


Pretty blue eyes

by adaren1



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Explicit Language, F/M, kind of a slow burn but not really, lil bit of Elena bashing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-06-29 02:49:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15720441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adaren1/pseuds/adaren1
Summary: Adalaide Romanova was sent away from busy New York to the simple, care-free town of Mystic Falls by her sister Natasha and her friend Steve. They sent her away to keep her identity a secret and to keep her out of trouble. But trouble always finds Ada, especially when a certain blue-eyed vampire comes to town.





	1. Chapter 1

Coming to Mystic Falls was NOT my choice. Although honestly, who comes to Mystic Falls because they want to? I was coming to Mystic Falls to get away. Again, NOT my choice. My sister Natalia, and her friend Steve decided that it was best for me to get out of range of them. No one knew I existed, and it was going to stay that way. And what better place to stay under the radar than a small town where nothing happens? Suddenly, a phone call interrupted my inner monologue. I picked it up.   
“Hello?”  
“Hey, it’s Nat. How’s everything going?”  
I rolled my eyes. Sometimes my sister could be more like a mother. “Everything’s great! I love being here!” I answered. I could practically hear Nat rolling her eyes at me.   
“Yeah, yeah. You know we had to Ada. It’s not good for you to be in the public after, you know, everything.”  
I sighed. I knew my sister and her friends felt bad after what happened with all the Avengers. I was almost forced into the spotlight by Zemo, but luckily Steve, Bucky, T'challa and Tony shut it down just in time. Only a small group of people know who and what I really am, and I want it to stay that way.   
“Yeah I know. I just wish I didn’t have to go to the middle of bumfuck nowhere.”  
She laughed. “It’s not nowhere it’s a small-“  
“Town, yeah yeah,” I cut her off, “but maybe I could’ve gone to somewhere nice like Hawaii, or the Bahamas or LITERALLY anywhere else.”   
“Well, maybe you’ll like it,” she said somewhat hopefully. Yeah right. This town reeks of drama and whiny girls who have never even left this godforsaken place.   
“Yeah maybe,” I say, just to get her to stop worrying. “Alright, I’m pulling up to my new house so I gotta go. Love you.”  
“Ok be safe. Love you too.”  
I sigh and hang up and just sit in my car for a second. What will this crazy, unadventurous town hold I wonder? Well, there’s only one way to find out. I step out of my car and head to the trunk to get my stuff. Because of my past and the fact that I’m Natalia’s sister, I’ve learned to pack light. I pull out my duffel bag and backpack and head for the front door.   
It’s a reasonably nice house. Only one floor but it’s very open and spacey, which is perfect for my lifestyle. I start to unpack but then decide to go for a jog. It’s a great way to map out the area while still being sort of undercover.   
Once I’m all set in my shorts and tank top, I set out. I run by house after house, carefully mapping them all in my head. Once I get to this big house some time later, I stop. Something about it stands out to me. Besides the obvious hugeness of it. It almost looks like it’s from another time. I shrug and keep jogging and almost run into a guy.   
“Oh shit, sorry!” I say, pulling out my earbuds.  
Looking up, I meet the eyes of probably the most gorgeous specimen I have ever seen. And I used to live with Captain America and the Winter Soldier! Anyways, this guy was h o t. His eyes were the most beautiful, icy, blue, and his smirk radiated danger. That part was intriguing, so I gave him a quick once over, patted him on the chest, and jogged around him. I could feel the mans eyes on me as I jogged away, and they shot a shiver down my spine. I couldn’t decide if it was a good one or not.   
When I got back home, I had almost completely forgotten about the pretty guy I ran into. I ate dinner (pepperoni pizza, fuck yeah) and took a shower. After I showered, I watched my favorite show for a little bit and then fell asleep w my gun under my pillow. 

The next morning, I got up, ready to tackle the day.   
Sike.   
It was my first day of senior year, and I wanted to go back to sleep and never wake up. Instead, I crawled (I'm not kidding. I probably looked like a human worm) to the kitchen in my blanket and made some coffee. After getting dressed in some jeans and a cute crop top w my favorite leather jacket, I brushed my teeth and jumped in the car.   
Upon arriving to the school, I immediately decided that I should’ve gone w my first thought of staying the fuck in bed. Seeing all the peppy cheerleaders made me want to die. Instead of turning around and driving off the nearest bridge, I forced myself to smile and get out of the car. When I got out, the breeze pushed its way through my hair and made it shine in the sun. Using this as my positive point in the morning, I walked towards the school.   
Once I got in the school, I realized I had no clue where to go. So I stopped the person closest to me.   
“Hi, do you know where the principals office is?”  
The girl I stopped turned around. She had straight brown hair and brown eyes and looked rather bratty with a slightly annoying undertone.   
“Uh yeah it’s over there next to room 153,” she said.   
I forced myself to smile. “Thank you so much.”  
I turned to leave, but her voice stopped me.   
“Hey are you new here?”  
I tried to sound not annoyed. “Yeah, how’d you know?”  
The girl smiled, “No one goes to the principals office unless they’re new, or in trouble. And since you asked where it was, I’m guessing you’re new.” She held out her hand.  
“I’m Elena.”   
I smiled. Maybe this girl was nice and I was just being a bitch. I held out my hand "Ada.”  
“Well,” Elena smiled, “if we have the same lunch period, you should totally sit with my friends and I.”  
Well, I did need somewhere to sit.   
“Thanks. I might just take you up on that.” She smiled and walked away.   
When I got to the principals office, I hesitated. Did I really want to do this? I could just drop off the grid and tell Natalia that something came up. Then someone bumped into me. I turned around, ready to yell at them, and came face to face with like 6 feet of solid muscle.   
“I’m so sorry!” Ah, the 6 feet of solid muscle speaks.   
“I didn’t mean to bump into you.” I finally look up to see a very tall guy who’s WAY too handsome for high school, with pretty hazel eyes that looked me up and down.   
“No I’m sorry, it was my bad!” I said quickly. What is the deal with all the hot guys in this town??? Maybe it won’t be so bad after all.   
His brow furrowed slightly. “Are you new here?” He asks.   
“Yeah I am, how’d you know?” I said while simultaneously looking around me to see if anyone else witnessed my almost-really-bad fall.   
He smiled, “I don’t think i’ve ever seen you around here before. The senior class isn’t that big.” He handed me my fallen notebook, “I'm Stefan.”  
I took it, smiling slightly, "Ada."   
He smiled back. "See you in class," and walked away.   
Huh. Maybe things were looking up this year. Even though I was away from my old family, maybe I could make a new one in this godforsaken town. 

School was as boring as it was in the red room. Secretly, I had hoped that the American education system would be better than the one in Russia. I was so wrong. Well, it was good in the sense that it covered everything, but it was just as boring. If not more. When the bell for lunch rang, I was the first one out of the classroom.   
Walking around the many halls was kind of confusing, but once you've lived in stark tower, any other building is manageable. As soon as I stepped outside, I heard someone calling my name.   
"Ada! Over here!"   
I turned to see Elena waving me over. She was standing next to two other girls, and Stefan. One of the girls had blonde hair and reminded me slightly of a barbie doll I once saw a picture of. The other one had dark brown hair and had this wary look in her eyes, as if she expected someone to come for her 24/7. I laughed to myself. This girl and I were going to be good friends.   
I walked over, forcing a smile on my face. "Hey Elena! Hey Stefan! How's it going?"   
They both smiled at me and Elena said she was good. Then barbie girl coughed expectantly.   
"Oh, right!" said Elena quickly. "This is Ada. She's new here. Ada, This is caroline," she motioned to barbie, "and Bonnie," she motioned to the dark haired girl. "And you've already met my boyfriend Stefan." I waved and gave what I hoped looked like a small, shy smile. Apparently, they all bought it, except Bonnie, who still seemed slightly skeptic.   
For the rest of lunch, I was grilled on where I was from, how I liked the school, and who I thought was cute. I answered with all the answers that Nat and Steve had told me to say, but when they got to the cute part, I choked on my water.   
"Excuse me?" I asked.   
Caroline rolled her eyes and laughed. "We asked, who do you think is cute?"   
"Well," I said swallowing. Nat hadn't prepared me for this. Ok, I told myself. Just put on mask. It's just like a mission. A very long, possibly tedious, mission.   
"Well, no one has stood out yet, but it's only the first day," I replied, smirking.   
They all laughed, except Bonnie, who gave a little chuckle, and Stefan, who was on the phone with someone named Damon, who seemed to be stressing him out immensely. When he ended the call, Elena looked at him, worried.   
"Is it Damon again?" she asked.   
"Yeah. He's bothering me about the whole Katherine thing."  
Elena huffed and looked slightly worried. "Do you think he suspects something?"   
Stefan sighed, "I don't know. Hopefully not."   
I frowned. "Who's Damon? He seems like a lot of trouble." I tried to look concerned, but I just really wanted to know who he was.   
Caroline rolled her eyes. "He's Stefans idiot brother." Her eyes flashed, and I saw something beneath the shallow surface of her barbie look. "And you're right about the trouble part. He-"   
"He's not a good person." Stefan finished quickly. "You should stay away from him."   
I looked at all their faces. Stefan was hiding anger, fear, and pain, behind a stony face and bold eyes. Caroline's face was full of repressed anger and a little bit of fear. Bonnie's face looked uninterested, except for her eyes and her mouth, which were scrunched up in anger. Lastly, elenas face was concerned and worried, with a little bit of... was that interest? But wasn't she dating Stefan? Ooooh, this little town just got a whole lot more interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Replying to Reviewer_only: thank you so much! I totally forgot to tag it Avengers bc it was like two in the morning and I was super tired but thank you for reminding me!  
> Also the actress I picked for Ada is Astrid Berges-Frisbey. I really loved the character she played in the new King Arthur movie bc she was a strong, powerful, and independent woman who don't need no man

The rest of the day went by with no other real excitement. I went through all my classes, not really paying attention. As soon as the bell rang for the end of the school day, I got in my car and sped home. I then proceeded to unpack the rest of what I hadn't gotten to last night. As I was unpacking, I went through everything I knew about this town. It wasn't much. All I knew so far was that Elena was dating Stefan, and she had some sort of interest in his older brother Damon. I also knew that apparently Caroline had some sort of past with him, and Bonnie didn't like him. I wonder why? Bonnie seemed like a reasonable person with reasonable judgment.  
As I was setting up my punching bag in the back room, my stomach growled loudly. I guess that was a sign to get some food. I had no idea where the nearest grocery store was, but I had driven by a restaurant called "The Grill" on the way here and that sounded like a good place to check out. I grabbed my phone and car keys and made my way over there.  
When I walked in, I noticed that it also had a bar connected to it. Perfect. As I walked over to a table, I noticed Elena and her friends were sitting in a booth discussing something that looked very serious. Determined to find out what it was, I walked over.  
"Hey guys!" I said with more excitement that was probably necessary. "How's it going?"  
Stefan smiled at me, but it seemed forced. "Hey Ada. Its going good."  
I frowned, pretending to look concerned. "Are you sure? Y'all seem... stressed."  
Stefan opened his mouth to answer but Elena cut him off. "We're fine, thanks Ada." She looked around as if looking for an excuse for me to leave. "Hey, where are your parents?"  
I tried not to show my anger at such an obvious way to try and get me to leave.  
"They're dead." I responded with little emotion, looking Elena straight in the eyes.  
Her face changed immediately and she looked guilty. Damn fucking right you should be guilty you little piece of-  
"I'm so sorry" Stefan said with a sad look on his face. I smiled a small, real smile at him.  
"It's okay. I didn't really know them."  
"Still," said Bonnie, putting a hand on my arm comfortingly, before jerking back. Elena and Stefan both looked at her questioningly and she just stared at me. I looked right back at her, my green eyes boring into her light brown ones. I figured she was something special. She has the same look in her eye that my friend Wanda does. It was a look that said that she was always ready for something to go wrong and attack her. The look on Bonnie's face and how fast she jerked her arm away proved my theory. But just what was she? As far as I knew, Wanda was the only one affected the way she was by the Hydra experiments. So where did that leave Bonnie? My thoughts were interrupted by Elena asking Bonnie if she was ok. Bonnie quickly nodded and then excused herself and left. Stefan and Elena just watched her go.  
"Well," I said, not really knowing where to start.  
"I'm sorry, excuse me." Said Elena as she got up. "I'm going to go check on Bonnie and make sure she's ok." She threw a look at Stefan that said get your ass out of here this girl is weird, but Stefan just shook it off. Instead he gestured to the now-empty seats.  
"Want some food?" He asked, offering me a basket of chips.  
I, of course, wanted some food, so I sat down and began to munch on said chips.  
"I didn't mean to make everyone leave." I say, looking down at the chips to make me seem sorrier than I was. "Is Bonnie ok?"  
Stefan considered me for a moment. "I think she'll be alright. She's very good at reading people, and sometimes the things she sees in them freak her out a bit. But she'll get over it." He said with a reassuring smile. I smiled back.  
"Thanks Stefan. You've been a real friend," patted him on the shoulder, and then left. 

Once I got home, I realized that I had only eaten like three chips, so I ordered Chinese food. Sigh. Workouts would start tomorrow. But today? I would eat egg rolls until I burst.  
After ordering my happiness in a box, I pulled out my laptop. I cracked my knuckles and then looked up Mystic Falls history. As it turns out, Mystic Falls has quite the sob story. In 1864, 27 civilians were inside a church when it burned down. There were also countless records of animal attacks and lots of deaths because of them. Now I'm not stupid. I've seen the twilight movies (or at least one of them). I know what "animal attack" is code for. Vampires. However, I didn't even think they were real. Although I used to live with a floating, talking Android so I guess anything is possible. But in order for me to really believe anything, I needed proof. Real, solid, proof. And I was going to get it. I was so far into my plotting that I almost fell off my stool when the doorbell rang.  
I went up to go pay and then hurriedly rushed back to my spot at my laptop. For the next hour, I researched everything there was to know about vampires. I even called Wanda to see what she thought.  
"Hello?"  
"Hey Wanda, it's me."  
"Ada! Hi! How are you?"  
I smiled at the obvious happiness in her voice. "I'm good. I miss everyone though."  
I could feel her smiling. "We miss you too Ada. Now, what did you call me for?"  
I laughed. She could always tell when I needed something. "I need you to answer some really weird questions."  
"Uhhhh alright, shoot."  
"Ok, what do you know about witches?"  
"Ada why the hell do you need to know about witches?"  
"Just answer the question Wanda."  
She sighed. "Alright fine. I don't know much. I know that there are different kinds, and that their powers vary quite a bit. There's the Wiccan witches,"  
"Try saying that five times fast," I muttered.  
"Shut up. Like I said, the Wiccan witches, the wand-wielders, and then witches like me. Those are all the ones that I know."  
"What are the Wiccan witches?"  
"I think they draw their power from nature. There are also good and bad ones, just like there are in every race. The 'good' ones, and I use that term loosely because it's never just good or bad, usually draw their power from the light and the living nature around them. The 'bad' ones tend to draw their power from the dark and death."  
I nod silently. "And what about the other ones? The wand-whatever's."  
I already knew she was rolling her eyes. "Wand-WIELDERS. No one really knows about them, only that they mostly reside in England and the UK. They're also known to be very powerful."  
"Right." I rubbed my temples to try and sooth the oncoming headache. "And do you think there are any other witches like you?"  
She laughed, but it didn't really sound happy. "I think I'm the only one like me dear."  
"Ok, last question and then I'll never bother you ever again." Another laugh.  
"What do you think about vampires?"  
"Ok what the hell Ada. You call me, asking all these crazy-ass questions and expect ME not to ask questions?"  
I sigh. "I'm just trying to get information on a hunch I have."  
"A hunch???? Are there vampires where you are?? Ada I swear to GOD I will come get your ass-"  
"Wanda please just answer the question!!"  
She sighed. "All I know is that they drink blood and definitely do not sparkle. They can't walk in the day unless they have a special ring made with a stone called lapis lazuli."  
"How do you know all this?"  
"Hydra used to capture vampires and run tests on them under the name of the Augustine society. They used to bring Pietro and I there to watch what would happen to us if we did not behave."  
I shuddered. I hated Hydra, and was glad I escaped. All they did was ruin lives; surely they wouldn't find me here.  
"Right, well, thanks Wanda for answering my questions. You've been a real help."  
"Of course dear. Now go run along and pick some strawberries or whatever small towns in America do."  
I laughed. "Ok Wanda. Love you."  
"Love you too."  
I was about to hang up, when her voice stopped me.  
"Ada?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Be careful. Witches and vampires are both dangerous."  
I sighed and looked out the window at a black crow sitting in my tree. "Aren't we all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! another short chapter. They will get longer, I promise! Again please leave a review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yoooo sorry I took so long to update but shit was hectic in my life for a couple of days but a bitch is back now so we good.

After my little talk with Wanda, I couldn’t really think of anything else. For the rest of the night, I went through everything that I knew in my head. It was a technique I used in the Red Room when they tried to make me forget who I was. Basically, I went down the list of what I knew for sure. Right now, the list was pretty short. All I had was that Bonnie was a witch, Vampires were real, and Elena, Bonnie, and Stefan knew about them. Anything else I wanted to know, I would have to find out tomorrow.

 

When I woke up, I had a sense of determination. Today, I was going to find out what the hell was up with this town. I didn’t want to outright ask the group what they knew, that wouldn’t get me my answers. Even though it might come to that eventually, today was an observation day. I made myself some coffee and took a quick shower. Then I pulled on some leggings and a t-shirt and some tennis shoes. Then I grabbed my jacket and car keys and got into my car.

Once I was at school, I hesitated. I would have to act like I didn’t know anything, which I was good at. The thing that was really troubling me however, was the fact that if there were any vampires in this town, I didn’t know how to kill them. Everything I had read said that they were killed by a stake to the heart, so I had made one last night. It was small, and it fit easily in my jacket sleeve. I attached it to a mechanism that would shoot out if I pulled one of the small strings that it was attached. Feeling a little more secure, I walked confidently into the school and into my first period.  
The rest of the day was boring, until lunch, when I sat with Bonnie and co. Bonnie had this guarded and nervous look in her eyes.

“Hey, you ok?” I asked.

She nodded reassuringly, but I didn’t believe her, and told her as much.

She shot me a nervous smile. “How can you tell?”

I laughed slightly. “You have this look in your eyes that says that you’re going to do something you don’t really want to do.” I hoped that this would prompt her into telling me at least some useful information.

She sighed heavily. “It’s true. Stefan and Elena are trying to get me to do something that could be potentially dangerous to this town. And yet, doing this means that Damon will leave town.”

I frowned. “Two, questions. One, why is Damon so bad? What has he done to make all of y’all hate him so much? And two, what exactly are they making you do that is so bad? Surely it can’t be THAT dangerous if they’re asking you to do it?”

She laughed slightly. “He did horrible things to Caroline. He abused and manipulated her for his personal gain.”

Ah. Well. I guess I could see why she hated him.

“And I can’t really answer your second question. It’s supposed to be a secret.”

I put a hand on her arm and looked her in the eyes. Here goes nothing.

“Bonnie, I know. I know about you, and I know about Vampires.”

Her eyes widened and she looked shocked. “How?” was all she could say.

I smirked slightly. “I’m smarter than I look.”

She gave me a small smile, and then went back to looking confused. “Then what are you? If you know what I am, then you know that I felt something when I touched you.”

I nodded. “And what did you feel?”

“Power.” She whispered.

That shocked me. I was in no ways powerful. Sure, I was stronger and faster than your average girl, but there were plenty of other people that were stronger and faster. Bucky and Steve always used to beat me when we were sparring, and Wanda was infinitely more powerful than I could ever be.

“What do you mean?”

She looked at her hands. “I am in no way a damsel in distress.” She said. “I know I have powers, and I can defend myself with them. But when I touched you I felt, almost calm. The only other time I felt like that was when I touched my grandmother, who is a witch.”

“I’m not a witch!” I said quickly.

“Then what are you? Because I sure as hell don’t know.”

I glanced around. Stefan wasn’t at school today, and Elena was nowhere to be found. I sighed and began to tell her my story.

“I’ll give you the cliff notes version because it’s very long and very depressing, and I would hate to be the one to bring sadness into your day. So,” I got as comfortable as I could on a wooden bench. “It started when I was little. An organization that went by the name of the Red Room took my sister and I from our home in Russia. They killed our parents and made sure that any living friends or relatives couldn’t go looking for us. I don’t remember my age exactly, but we were both very young. Basically, they trained us to be elite spies and assassins. My sister and I got out, both completing the course. She became the Black Widow, and I became the Scorpion.” I saw the realization dawn on Bonnies face and I saw fear flash through her eyes. “We went on to work for them for a while, then the organization Hydra, and then the KGB. Then one day, the organization named S.H.E.I.L.D. came and pretty much rescued us. Then we worked for them for a while until it crashed, and now we’re free.” After my story I let out a breath. I had never told anyone besides Bucky and Steve my whole story, and it was nerve-wracking. What if she told someone? Or was afraid of me? Or tried to kill me? I doubt I could take on a witch. I couldn’t even take Wanda!

“Look,” I said hurridly. “You can’t tell anyone. They could let something slip and I could be hunted again. I’m here because no one knows I’m here, but if someone from Hydra finds out, they’ll take me again.” I tried to mask the fear in my voice, but I knew Bonnie heard it. Suddenly I felt a hand on my arm. I looked up at her. She was smiling softly.

“I won’t tell anyone Ada. I can see that you’re being honest with me.”

I threw her a thankful smile, when she spoke again. “But you still didn’t tell me what you are.”

I played with the ring on my finger that Wanda had given me. “That’s where it gets confusing. I don’t exactly know the full extent of what they did to me.” Glancing at her, I asked, “Do you know who the Winter Soldier is?” She nodded. “Do you know what they did to him?” Another nod. “That’s basically what they did to me and my sister, except we had it a bit more mild. They never brainwashed us to that extent. Just the little things, like who our parents were and that we were loyal to them and not anyone else. Luckily, we broke the programming.”

“Right,” she said. “But what are you.”

I laughed. “I’m pretty much a super soldier. I’m faster and stronger than a normal human, and my senses and healing properties are better too.” I sighed. “But there’s always the question of just what else Hydra and the Red Room did to me that I don’t know about.”

I spared a glance at Bonnie to see how she reacted. She looked completely shocked, and there was sadness in her eyes.

“Of course I won’t tell.” She said softly.

I smiled. “Great! Now let’s skip the rest of school because I am in a fairly depressed mood, and I want to get out of it.” And with that, we both laughed and went to the Grill for a quick bite, although I secretly hoped I’d find Stefan there so I could get a good look at his ring. Maybe he was the vampire that was behind all these ‘animal attacks’. Or maybe it was sweet, charming, slightly annoying Elena. That was not my leading theory. But there was only one way to find out. To the Grill!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a review/kudos!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoooooo more chapters !

At the Grill, Bonnie and I ordered some food, and she proceeded to me all about her and her powers. The lighter part of me enjoyed this because I was genuinely curious, but the darker part of me was telling me to take notes, in case she turned on me in the future. In my defense, I tried to shut that part of me up, but I knew that it was also the part of me that kept me alive. Suddenly, Bonnie stopped her story. I looked up from my burger to see what had caused her to stop talking.

“Elena and Stefan are here.” She said, almost urgently. “What am I going to do?”

“It’s okay,” I reassured her. “Remember, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.” She smiled at me gratefully and met Elena’s eyes as they walked over.

“Hey Bonnie and... Ada.” Elena said as she looked at me questioningly. I barely contained my eye roll. Really?? She was surprised to see me?? This was the place where every fucking teenager went.

“Hey!” I said with fake happiness in my voice. I could feel Bonnie looking at me, but I went on. “I didn’t see y’all at school today; everything okay?”

“Yeah, of course.” Elena said, looking at Bonnie pointedly. “Bonnie, could Stefan and I talk to you for a second? Alone?”

I could see Bonnie ready herself and then say, “anything you want to say to me, you can say to Ada. She knows.”

I looked at Bonnie in complete shock, and she gave me a look that said _well you never said anything about not telling them you knew about me_ and looked back at Elena.

Elena turned to me. “You know?” She asked skeptically.

“Well that is what Bonnie just said, yes.” I replied.

She glanced at Stefan, who just nodded. As Elena kept rambling on about Bonnie helping them and how if they did this, then Damon would leave town and they would never see him again, I was studying Stefan. He kept looking around the Grill like he was watching and listening for any kind of threats. He also had this look in his eyes that was almost like Bucky’s. It was the look of guilt and sadness, that much was clear, but when I looked closer I saw a predatory glint in them. The next thing I noticed was the way he stood, as if he was always on defense. Natalia used to stand like that, but more like she was always ready to attack. Once she moved in with the Avengers however, she got better at hiding it. I had more problems with it but was getting better. Lastly, my gaze traveled down to the ring on his hand. It was big, and I immediately knew what it was. A daylight ring. My gaze traveled back up and I noticed Stefan was staring at me intently. I smirked at him, and I saw something flicker across his eyes before he turned back to Elena.

I zoned back into the conversation just as Bonnie was saying, “fine, I’ll do it.” And then she stormed off.

I turned back to Stefan and Elena. “Well this is awkward.” I said just to break the ice.

Stefan laughed but Elena looked slightly miffed about the whole encounter. “Ok how do you know about Bonnie?” She asked. Stefan leaned forward slightly.

“Give me some credit guys. I’m smarter than I look.” I said, hoping that it would satisfy them.

“Ok we’re gonna need more than ‘I’m smarter than I look’” said Elena. “You somehow figured out that my best friend is a witch.”

I sighed. Might as well throw it all in. “Also that Stefan is a vampire.” I took great pleasure watching Stefan choke on his drink and Elena patted him on the back.

“Ok how the hell do you know this,” said Stefan when he was done choking.

I smiled and leaned back in my chair. “A friend of mine is a very powerful witch, so I know the signs. And as for you Stefan, well, I’m just very observant and very good at doing my homework.” They both looked at me dumbfounded, like no one had ever found out their secrets before. “Now,” I said, already knowing what their next question would be, “I won’t tell anyone IF you answer my questions.”

They looked at each other and then nodded.

“Great!” I cracked my knuckles. “Alright first question, who are the other vampires in Mystic Falls?”

Stefan answered for the both of them, “currently, it’s just me and Damon.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Currently?”

“There was a time where this town was crawling with vampires.” He looked down. “It didn’t end well for anybody.”

I nodded. “I won’t tell anyone Stefan. I promise. Now, next question. What are you asking Bonnie to do that has her so stressed out?”

This time, Elena answered. “Well, there’s this tomb full of vampires underneath the old church in the woods. Damon’s long lost love is under there, and once he gets her, they’ll both leave town and leave us all alone.”

I nodded. “And why does Bonnie not want to open it?”

Stefan sighed. “Her ancestor, Emily Bennet, had to save all 26 vampires along with Katherine to save her. And, for obvious reasons, Bonnie doesn’t want 26 vampires running around Mystic Falls.”

“Right, right. And why are you forcing her to do something she clearly doesn’t want to do?” I asked, aiming my question at Elena.

“You don’t understand,” she said quickly. “This is the right thing to do. Damon is a bad guy; he hurts everything he touches. If this is what we have to do to get him out of here, then it’s what we’ll do.”

I was about to reply, when a cocky voice cut in. “Talking about me?”

I turned around to see the boy with the ice blue eyes that I had run into all those days ago.

“Well hello there,” he said looking right at me. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m pretty sure my heart stopped. Yep, the emotionless, cold-hearted, assassin, felt her heart skip a beat. I cursed under my breath when I realized he could probably hear my heart stopping. And then I realized that he could DEFinitely hear me cursing. To cover it all up, I took a loud slurp from my water. When I glanced up, he was smirking.

“And who might this beauty be?” He asked, his eyes never leaving mine. If I hadn’t been trained as a cold, unfeeling killing machine, my cheeks definitely would’ve been on fire. But since I was, I just looked at him and smirked.

“Ada. And you are...”

He smirked back. “Why, nothing less than THE Damon Salvatore.” Then he frowned slightly. “Why don’t I know you? You seem to be friends with my brother and his lovely girlfriend. Surely you must’ve come over at some point.”

I shook my head. “Actually I just moved here from New York. I had the pleasure of having Stefan show me around.”

It seemed that the fact that I had not included Elena in my statement was not lost on him as his smirk widened. “I like her.” He said, and I felt my heart speed up before I got my shit together. He glanced at me once more, before announcing that it was boring here and that he was headed home.

“Actually, that’s a good idea. I have some stuff that I wanted to get done tonight.” I said as I grabbed my bag and left some money on the table. A quick, “See y’all later!” and I was gone. When I got to my car, I was digging around in my bag for my keys when I felt a whoosh of air. Not looking up, I said, “Stefan, I already promised I wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“Well that’s reassuring. Tell anyone what?” Damon’s silky voice came instead.

I jerked my head up and smiled instinctively but pushed it down. What the hell was going on?! I never smile instinctively!

“Oh, just that you and Stefan are vampires. Nothing big.”

That threw him off. I could tell because his smile stopped reaching his eyes. “And why would you even think that?”

I smiled almost patronizingly. “Oh come on Damon, don’t play dumb. And here I thought that you were more than just a pretty face.”

Something like amusement crossed his face and I could tell that he almost smiled.

He stepped closer so that I was almost right up against him. “If that’s true, then what’s to stop me from killing you right here?”

I stepped up even closer to him so our noses were almost touching.

“Nothing.”

And then I got in my car and drove away, congratulating myself for my amazing last word the whole time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a review, etc., etc.


	5. Chapter 5

When I got home, I changed into my training clothes and put my hair up. Boxing always helped me think. I needed to come up with a plan to help Bonnie. I trusted her and I wanted to help her with her magic, but I had no idea how to go about it. It seemed like they all really wanted Damon to leave town, and who was I to stop them, even if he was gorgeous. Maybe they had a good reason for him wanting to leave. Or maybe it was just sibling rivalry coming back to bite them in the ass. I guess I couldn’t really understand that, Nat and I were always thick as thieves. Well, I thought as I punched the bag across the room, there was only one way to find out. I had to talk to the Salvatore brothers.

I picked up my phone to call Stefan, but hesitated. Did I really want to get involved? I could just leave myself out of it and let it be their problem. But then I thought of Bonnie and how she deserved to know about her magic and how it worked, and I pressed the call button.

“Hello?” I heard his voice say.

“Hey Stefan, it’s Ada.”

“Oh hey Ada, what’s up?” I smiled at the completely friendly tone of his voice.

“I just called to say that I want to help.”

I could hear him trip on something but catch himself. “You want to help us? Why?”

I sighed. “Well really, I want to help Bonnie learn more about herself and about her magic, but I thought that you might just need my help and expertise.”

I could feel Stefan’s confusion. “And just what do you mean expertise? I’m a vampire Ada, I think I can handle myself.”

“I believe that you can handle yourself, but who’s gonna handle Elena? Or Bonnie? I can help you there. I’ve taken on worse things than vampires, Stefan.” I knew that that would make him even more confused, so I pressed on. “Look, I’ll come over tomorrow after school and help you plan. Two of my best friends taught me how to strategize, and they were in World War 2.” I smiled to myself and made a mental note to facetime Steve and Bucky later.

“Ada-“ he began, but I cut him off.

“I’ll also answer the many questions you must have for me tomorrow, but first, you must agree to let me help.”

He was silent for a moment. Then, “fine. But just know that I don’t like putting you in danger.”

I smirked. “Thanks, Stef. But don’t worry, I can handle myself.” I said, throwing his words back at him.

He laughed, “See you tomorrow Ada.”

“See ya Stef.”

And with that, I hung up. After I finished cleaning up the split boxing bag, I went to go take a shower. In the shower, I went through my list of things I knew. First, that Stefan and Damon Salvatore were vampires, and Elena and Bonnie knew about it. On a side note, Elena was dating one. Or had they broken up? It was confusing. Whatever. Second, Bonnie Bennett was a witch, and I was going to help her. Third, I probably shouldn’t have eaten that whole cheeseburger and then worked out because I was feeling a little queasy. And fourth, I was going to help the scooby gang get Damon’s long-lost love back from a tomb and subsequently get him to leave town, which I wasn’t sure I wanted. Phew. Enough thinking for tonight!

Crawling into my bed, I couldn’t help but wonder if I had made the right choice. What if helping Damon’s old girlfriend out of her tomb somehow exposed me to the world? Maybe I should’ve just stayed a hermit. But then I wouldn’t be able to help Bonnie, and then what kind of person would that make me? With all these questions running around in my head, it was hard to fall asleep. But when I eventually did, a pair of blue eyes stared at me from the backs of my eyelids.

 

 

I woke up to my phone ringing. It surprised me, and I fell off the side of my bed and landed on the floor with a loud thump.

“Hello?” I asked rather sleepily.

“Hey Ada,” it was Stefan. “I was just calling to make sure you were still coming over. Damon’s making breakfast or something and he insisted I call you.”

I smiled at the thought of Damon trying to make breakfast. “Of course I’m still coming. I checked the clock to see what time is was. The clock blinked back at me saying 11:00. Now it made sense why Stefan thought I wasn’t coming.

“I’ll be over soon.” I said, slowly rolling out of my blankets.

“Ok great.”

I hung up and finally got up from my floor. I pulled on some joggers and a tank top and grabbed one of my favorite sweatshirts from my closet. I grabbed my keys and my phone and headed out.

I parked right in front of the house and walked in, not bothering to knock. They would hear me come in.

Sure enough, I heard Damon’s voice come from what sounded like the kitchen, “Hello Ada.”

“Heyyyy,” I said, walking towards his voice. Their house was beautiful, in an old, vintage, sort of way. It reminded me of a grandmother’s house. Of course, I wouldn’t tell THEM that. Actually,

“Y’all’s house reminds me of a grandma’s house.”

Stefan choked on his coffee and I something flew past my head.

“Excuse me?” asked Stefan incredulously.

“It does NOT look like a grandma’s house!” said Damon.

I looked behind me to see a spatula laying on the floor.

“You threw a spatula at me?!”

Damon smirked. “No one calls my house a grandma and gets away with it.”

I laughed and walked over to give him a hug. “Well, let’s consider this a peace offering,” I said, while reaching behind him for a bunch of grapes. He smiled at me and hugged me back. I tucked the grapes into my shirt and walked over to Stefan to give him a hug.

“And good morning to you too!” I said, while secretly giving him half of the grapes. I put a finger to my lips, and as soon as Damon turned back around, I pointed at him and motioned throwing the grapes.

Ready? I mouthed. He nodded. One, two, “THREE!” and we both started pelting him with grapes. He turned around, shocked, but quickly got over it and ran for cover behind the couch.

“You sneaky little- “I threw a grape at him to make him shut up.

“I thought we had a truce!!” he said, while laughing.

Stefan was in the kitchen gathering more fruits to throw at him.

“I lied.” I said simply, before grabbing a fruit from Stefan’s arms. I was about to throw it but then I saw what it was and looked at him.

“A banana? Really?” he shrugged. “We don’t have a real variety of fruits here seeing as we don’t eat real food.” I laughed and threw the banana anyway.

“OW!” said Damon. “A banana? What?” He sped over to the kitchen to get more food, and then sped back to his safe spot.

And that was how Elena found us, about half an hour later. Except now, we had escalated to anything we could find. Stefan and I were hiding behind the kitchen counter and Damon had taken over the living room. We were all too consumed in building our respective forts (Damon had made his out of pillows and Stefan had moved the bar stools, so they surrounded us) to hear Elena come in.

“Uhhhh, Stefan? Hello?” We all stopped moving immediately. Stefan popped up first.

“Ah, hey Elena. We were just...” I made eye contact with Damon and rolled my eyes which made him laugh. Then I popped up.

“Good morning Elena.” I threw a quick glance around the room, which had pillows strewn about and there was fruit everywhere.

“I decided to pop over and give the boys a nice wake-up call.” I could feel Damon rolling his eyes.

“Wake-up call my ass. She was just mad because I lightly tossed a spatula at her.”

“Lightly tossed??” I said incredulously, before remembering that Elena was still in the room. She was just kind of staring at me.

“Right, well,” I moved to start cleaning up. “Since this is done, I guess I’ll clean up.” I picked up a pillow and threw it onto the couch, but Damon caught it and stood up. He stepped closer to me, so that the pillow was the only thing separating me and him.   
“Don’t worry about cleaning up. I got it.” He looked down at me and smiled softly.

“Uh,” I said as I gazed into his eyes. It was really hard to form a coherent thought when he was this close, let alone real words. I could feel my heart pounding. What was happening?? I wasn’t supposed to have connections. If someone found me, it would make them a target. Besides, if Damon got it into his head that I liked him, it would only add to his ego. With this in mind, I stepped away from him, fully aware that Stefan and Elena were both watching me. I cleared my throat.

“As you wish.” I smirked at him to cover up my obvious dishevelment, and then I walked towards the coffee machine.

“Now,” I said, knowing that his eyes were on me, “let’s get some planning done.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooooooo I got chapter 6 coming soon too!


	6. Chapter 6

Planning is not as fun as you might think. If Bucky and Steve heard me say that, they would probably disown me, but whatever.

“Alright,” I said, sitting down on the couch. “What exactly are we trying to do here?”

Damon walked to the chair next to me and sat down, never taking his eyes off me.

“Basically, we’re trying to get Damon’s old girlfriend, Katherine, out of the tomb.” Stefan explained.

I nodded. “Okay, and why are we even considering doing this, considering how many bad turns it could take?” I asked, and Elena gave me a dirty look. What? Someone had to ask, it might as well be me.

“Because then Katherine and I will leave all of you alone, and you’ll never have to deal with us again.” Damon answered, not looking at me.

“And what is our current plan for getting her out? Aren’t there like 26 other vamps in there, waiting to be released?”

Stefan nodded. “Yes, but they’re basically desiccated. They haven’t had blood in over a hundred years, and that makes them less dangerous.” There was something in his eyes that said that he thought that this was an awful idea, but he was doing it anyway. I wonder why?

“Right. And why are you doing this, Stefan? Surely you don’t want your brother to leave that bad.” I asked him. I could feel the tension dramatically increase in the room. I didn’t mean to make the whole drama level go up, it was an honest question. Even if Natalia did something horrible, I would never leave her behind. To me, that is what it means to be family. You never ditch them or leave them behind, no matter what. It was confusing and slightly concerning that Stefan wanted him to leave so bad. But when Stefan glanced at Elena before answering, I knew why. And it made me hate her more.

“It would just be safer for everyone,” was all he said. I opened my mouth to say something, but I didn’t. it didn’t seem the time or place. I would talk to him later, when Elena wasn’t here. When I glanced at Damon, my heart shattered for him. He was sitting back with a smirk, but I knew it was just hiding his hurt and pain that his brother didn’t want him there. His eyes, blue and enticing as ever, held pain in the back, and an almost everlasting sadness, covered by cockiness and a predatory glint.

Suddenly, the door opened, and the tense energy dropped.

“Hey, I’m here. What do you need from me today?” Bonnie walked in with a bored and slightly wary look in her eyes.

“Bonnie!” I said, jumping up and giving her a hug. I could feel Elena’s eyes on my back and it made me just a little bit happier.

“Thank you so much for coming. I know you didn’t want or have to, but it really helps.”

She smiled at me, “whatever helps Damon leave quicker.” I laughed, but it was fake, and I was pretty sure both boys could tell.

For the next hour, we brainstormed what we were going to do, down to the number of blood bags we needed. We were going to do it in tomorrow night, which was the night of the bonfire. In retrospect, we probably could’ve and should’ve pushed it back another night that wasn’t full of living people. Ah, whatever.

When we were done planning for the night, I turned to Stefan.

“Hey, can I talk to you for a second?” I glanced around the room, and added as an afterthought, “privately?”

He nodded and started to say something, but Elena interrupted him.

“Actually Stefan, I was hoping you could give me a ride home?” she asked him, but looked at me. I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. Really? She thought I was into her boyfriend? I mean, I didn’t really like her, but even I wasn’t that much of an asshole.

Surprisingly, Stefan glanced at me before answering. I gave him a small nod, telling him that I was okay with him taking her and that I would be there when he got back.

“Yeah, sure.”

I could feel Damon watching me and I fought the urge to turn around and look at his gorgeous- I mean regular face.

“Great,” Elena smiled. Then she turned to me. “Do you need a ride home too?”

To anyone else, it seemed like a polite invite, but I knew that she just didn’t want me at the Salvatore’s house any more than I had to be.

“Oh, no, I’m gonna stay for a little and talk to Damon. Thanks though,” I said playing along with the nice theme. I could feel Damon’s surprise from where he was sitting on the couch and I spared him a glance. He was lounging, looking as relaxed and confidant as ever, but I could tell that he was nervous for tomorrow night’s events. I hoped that I could calm him down a bit, an anxious vampire was a dangerous one.

“Right, well I’m leaving sooo,” Bonnie said, inching towards the door. “Elena and Ada, I’ll see you tomorrow!”

We both said bye, and then Stefan and Elena left, leaving just me and Damon. Alone. Oh boy.

“So,” he said, looking at me.

“So,” I said back, sitting down on the couch next to him.

“Did you actually want to talk to me about something, or was that just to piss off my brother and his girlfriend?”

I laughed a little. “I actually wanted to talk to you.”

I saw his eyes change and he sat up a little bit more. I took a deep breath. I wasn’t all that good with sentiment and caring, so I hoped that I would make him feel better and not worse.

“I know that you’re nervous about tomorrow.” He opened his mouth, probably to deny it, but I cut him off. “Don’t even try to deny it. I can see it in your eyes.” He just looked at me, possibly waiting for me to screw up and say something stupid, so I looked down at my hands and rubbed the small tattoo on my middle finger that was an infinity sign. It symbolized the fact that I had a long life ahead of me to reverse my mistakes and make myself better. When I was done getting my shit together, I looked back up a his impossibly blue eyes. I don’t know why, but I felt inexplicably drawn to him, which seems like complete and utter bullshit since I’ve only known him for like a week.

“I want you to know that I’ve got your back. No matter what happens, I will help you get her back.”

He studied me carefully before speaking.

“And why is that, Miss Ada?”

“Because you carry so much sadness and pain and regret with you, and I want to help make that go away. Because I know what that feels like, and its complete shit. And if she’s the thing that will make you happy, then I will help you.”

He just looked at me. I started to worry that maybe I had overstepped my boundaries, and I shifted into a better position to defend myself. He must’ve noticed this though, because when he spoke, his voice was softer than before.

“What would you know about all that? You’re, what 18?”

I smirked sadly. “We all carry our own pain Damon. It comes in different shapes and forms. Maybe someday, I’ll show you what mine looks like. But for now, I’m telling you that I’m going to help you.”

He must have heard the pain in my voice, because he put a hand on my arm. “Thank you, Ada.”

I nodded. Then he sat up straight. “Stefan’s home. Tell him I went to bed will you? I don’t think I can take any more of his brooding forehead tonight.”

I laughed and said that I would, and then he sped out of the room and upstairs.

I was staring into the fire, when I heard Stefan’s light footsteps come into the room.

“You wanted to talk to me?” He asked, coming to sit next to me. I nodded, but didn’t stop staring at the fire.

“Which one of you loved her first?”

He seemed taken aback by the question, and it took him a while to answer it.

“I think we would both have a different answer to that question.” He said finally. I nodded again.

“Do you really want Damon to leave?” Again, he was silent for a moment.

“It’s the right thing to do.”

“For who Stefan? All I see when I look at you is someone who desperately wants his brother back. But I sense that someone has gotten between you two, yet again. Don’t you think it’s time for that cycle to end?”

He sighed. “All I ever wanted was a brother. And before Katherine, that’s what I had. We were best friends. And it kills me to have someone come between us again, but I love Elena, and I would do anything for her.”

I mulled this over in my head. Then I took his hands in mine.

“My sister and I have been through thick and thin together. I’ve seen her do horrible things, and she’s seen me do the the same or worse. And yet, we made a pact that nothing would break us apart. Because in our old life, we were all we had. Now I believe that whatever Damon did was bad, but I also believe that you want your brother back.”

He sighed and hung his head. “I do, so badly. But the man that was my brother is gone. Things are different now. We’ve both changed so much that I don’t know if we can ever go back to how things were.”

“We all change. Hell, I’m a different person than I was a couple years ago. I think that if you talk to him, you’ll find that he has the same thing running through his head.” And with that, I patted his hand and got up. As I was walking to the door, I saw a shadow lingering by the stairs. I nodded at him and motioned to go to Stefan, and then I walked out. I had done all I could for one night. I could only hope that they would take my advice and work out their problems together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck yeah more chapters


	7. Chapter 7

When I got back to my house, I realized that it felt empty. I missed my family, and I wished that they were here with me. With that in mind, I pulled out my laptop and decided to skype my sister. As the call was connecting, I wondered what they would think of me being friends with vampires. Had Wanda told them about our conversation a while ago? If so, were they worried? My overly concerned thinking was interrupted by the sound of my sister’s voice

“Ada? What’s up?”

I smiled and instantly felt better. “Hey Nat! How are you?”

“I’m good, how are you? Is everything ok?”

I smiled to myself. It was good to know that I was missed. “Yeah, everything’s good. I just missed everyone and decided to call.”

“Oh, well we missed you too.” I heard her yell for Bucky and Steve to get over there, and soon my favorite blonde and brunettes were on the screen.

“Steve! Bucky! I miss y’all so much.”

They grinned. “We miss you too. How is everything in Magical Falls?” Bucky asked.

I rolled my eyes, knowing damn well he knew the right name.

“MYSTIC falls is nice. I’ve made some new friends-“

“Not as cool as us though, right?” Steve interrupted.

“Of course not,” I said. Then I hesitated. Should I tell them about Damon and Stefan? I decided I should, they were going to find out anyway.

“Oh, spit it out Ads. What is it that has got you so stressed out?” I cursed my sister’s ability to always know what I was thinking.

“It’s just, my new friends are… special.”

Nat raised an eyebrow and Steve and Bucky looked confused and slightly concerned.

“What do you mean ‘special’? Like Wanda?” she asked.

I shook my head. “Not like Wanda, no. Although she does know about them.”

“What?? Wanda knew before us?” Bucky looked affronted and I rolled my eyes.

“Oh relax. I had to ask her some questions, and it sort of just slipped out.”

Before Nat could ask anymore questions, I heard the unmistakable voice of Tony Stark.

“Is that the lovely Adalaide I hear?”

“Tony!!!” I exclaimed. I didn’t know you were home!”

He grinned and sat down next to Nat. “My trip ended early.”

I nodded, understandingly. Then, I thought of something. Wanda and I’s last conversation about vampires was not exactly vamp-friendly. She probably still thought they were bad.

“Hey, is Wanda there with y’all? She might want to hear this too.”

Steve nodded and called for her. Soon, she popped up next to Bucky, who jumped.

“What’s this about me wanting to hear something?” she asked while smiling at me.

“Ok, this is gonna sound weird, but since half of y’all are either super soldiers or enhanced, I think that you can wrap your heads around it.”

“Just spit it out Ada.” Said Bucky, who was getting impatient.

I smiled weakly. “Ok, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I took a deep breath. “My new friends are vampires.”

Dead silence. Then Tony began to laugh. When he saw my face and looked to Wanda, he stopped.

“Oh you’re not joking.”

I shook my head. And looked at my sister for her reaction. I knew that if Nat told me to stay away, I would. Her instincts had kept us alive many times before.

Her face didn’t show much, but I knew how to read my sister. The tightness of her mouth said that she was worried, and her eyes said that she didn’t know what to think. Steve was looking slightly horrified, but other than that he seemed to be taking it well. Bucky looked concerned but also a tiny bit amused. Tony had utter disbelief written across his face, and Wanda was looking slightly worried, but also concerned and she seemed to share a small bit of Bucky’s amusement. I guessed that was because she was finding the rest of the group’s reactions funny.

“What’s so funny Buck?” I asked, confused. The whole group turned to look at him.

“Oh nothing. Just the fact that in like a week the people that you decide to be friends with happen to be vampires.”

That caused Steve to crack a small smile. “Yup, that’s our Ada.”

I smiled, glad that they were able to joke about this.

“Nat? Tony? What do y’all think?”

I was ready for Natalia to berate me about befriending a dangerous predator, but Tony interrupted her before she could say anything.

“Do they sparkle?”

I looked at him, confused. “Why the fuck would they sparkle?”

At that, rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on. You’re telling me that you’ve never read Twilight?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Do I look like I read Twilight?”

He sighed, “Anyone else? Nobody?” When nobody spoke up, he rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe you people. Twilight is like the number one teenage vamp romcom book!”

“Yeah, sorry, I was busy killing people and helping aliens not take over our world when I was a teenager.”

“You still are a teenager,” Steve reminded me.

I shrugged. “Nat, what do you think?”

She was quiet for a moment. “Are they dangerous?” I nodded.

“Are they dangerous to you?”

I shook my head. “I’m friends with them, Nat. They wouldn’t hurt me. And besides,” I say smirking, “I could take them.”

Wanda frowned, “Ada, they’re much faster than you, even if you are basically a super soldier.

“Yeah, but at least I could hold my own against them if I really needed to.”

I looked at my sister once again. “Nat, if you don’t want me hanging out with them, I won’t. Your instincts have never been wrong before.”

“I appreciate you asking me, but you’re old enough to make your own decisions. If you believe that they won’t hurt you, then I’m okay with that. But just know that if they do, I’m bringing down the entire team to come and hurt them right back.”

I smiled, thankful that she was understanding about the whole thing.

“Do you know their weaknesses?” Bucky asked, “In case, you know, something goes bad.”

“I know that they can be killed by a stake to the heart, but I don’t know about anything else. Tomorrow, I will ask around and see what my friend Bonnie knows. She’s a witch.”

Wanda’s eyes brightened, and she sat forward.

“Really? Another witch? What are her powers?” I smiled at her excitement.

“She’s nowhere near as strong as you, and her powers come from nature, rather than a fixed source like yours.” She nodded.

“But she needs help with understanding her powers, so I’m going to help her. Also, this girl Elena who is super annoying, is forcing her to use her magic for something she doesn’t want to do, but she claims it’s for the greater good so Bonnie’s doing it.”

Wanda seemed troubled by this, and it made sense. I knew it sounded a lot like when HYDRA forced her to use her magic for things that they claimed was for the greater good.

“What if I came down and visited? I’m sure she would appreciate another witch coming and telling her that it was all going to be ok.”

“I agree. I think that she needs some good in her life right now, especially since it git turned upside down.”

Wanda smiled. “Great. I’ll see you soon then.”

After that, the rest of us talked for hours about how life was back at the tower, and all the different adventures they’d had. They told me about how Steve almost died, and I scolded him and the rest of the team for letting him do that. It was almost like I was there with them.

“Alright, I still have school tomorrow, so I’m gonna go. I love you all and please don’t die or I will personally come up there and kick your ghost ass!” I directed that part at Steve and Bucky, knowing damn well that they were the ones who would do that.

After lots of goodbyes and assurance that I would call soon, I hung up and got ready for bed. As I washed my hair in the shower, I thought about how different my life could’ve been if I hadn’t met the Avengers. If Nat and I hadn’t been rescued by SHIELD. As I climbed into my bed, I knew that I was grateful for the family I had, and I wouldn’t change that for the world. I went to sleep that night, blissfully unaware of the black crow that was sitting on the tree right outside my window.


	8. Chapter 8

I hate waking up. The feeling of going back into your cuddly, warm blankets is always so tempting. But I knew that if I didn’t get up now, then I would be late. I trudged out of bed and threw on some jeans, white high-tops, and a large sweater. I tucked the front of the sweater into my jeans and threw on an expensive belt that Tony had bought me. He had always believed in the statement, “look good, feel good”, and thought that I should too. So, to make me miss him less, I put it on. I ran a brush through my hair and hurried downstairs to get my coffee. Steve and Natalia had got me addicted to it, and I always had it whenever I could. After I got my Jesus in a cup, I grabbed my bag and headed out the door. In the car, I decided that today was gonna be my day. Fuck all the rest of my problems, today was my, “look good, feel good” day. I put on some sunglasses and rolled down the windows. Then I blasted my rap music and drove through the conservative little town.

I pulled up to the school, and everyone looked at me. I turned down the music and parked. Turning around, I made sure that my stake was in my backpack where Ieft it, and made sure my extra one in my glove compartment was there too. When I had got everything in order, I turned off my car and got out. My car was a matte black BMW M3 that Tony had gotten me as a going away present, and I loved it dearly. I could feel people’s eyes on me, and I reveled in the feeling. I was so tired of hiding, and it felt good to have people look at me and not know who I was and what I’ve done. I walked up to the table where Stefan and Bonnie were sitting. I smiled as I got closer.

“Good morning everyone.” I said, giving Bonnie a hug. I whispered in her ear, knowing that Stefan could hear me, “I have a friend coming down from New York to help you with your powers. She’s very excited to meet you.” When I stepped back, Bonnie’s face was full of gratitude and I smiled a real smile.

“How was everyone’s night? Did Damon bother y’all anymore?” I decided to play the ‘I hate Damon too angle’ for now, but only Stefan knew how I really felt.

“Nope!” said Bonnie cheerily. I smiled back and was about to ask more questions, but then Caroline showed up. I wasn’t sure how much she knew, so I decided to ask them later.

“Stefan, a word?” I asked, motioning him over to the side. I knew Elena was watching and was probably gonna ask him about it later, but for now, I had to know.

“Did you and Damon talk last night?”

He nodded. “Yeah. We agreed that Elena and Katherine had gotten between us, and that we would both make an effort to be nicer to each other.”

I smiled another genuine smile. Jeez, what is with me and smiling today? “Good. I’m glad that you two worked out your differences and decided to put family first.”

He smiled before a troubled look came on his face. “Why do you care so much about my relationship with Damon?” Ah. So he was worried I had some greater agenda.

“I just want to see you both happy. Family is forever, Stefan. No one should get between that.” I patted his arm and then went to join the rest of the group, who were talking about the party tonight.

“Hey Ada! Are you coming to the party tonight? It should be fun and there will be alcohol!”

I laughed, “well, if there’s alcohol I guess I’ll be there.” She didn’t have to know that I was already planning on coming and opening a tomb full of vampires. Just then the bell rang, and everyone went to class.

The rest of the school day was boring, and it passed slowly. At the end of the day, we all decided to meet up at the boarding house to go over the plan one more time. I was about to get in my car, but Caroline’s voice stopped me.

“Ada! Wait!” She caught up to me and I turned around. “Yes?”

“I was thinking that you, me, Elena and Bonnie could get ready together!”

Oh. I had never been invited to go to someone’s house to get ready before.

“Oh, uh,” nice job Ada. Act casual. “Yeah sure, that sounds like fun. I have to do something first, but I’ll come over afterwards if that’s okay?”

“Yeah of course. Here’s my address,” she put it into my phone, and then said bye and walked to her own car. Then I called Bonnie and asked her if she needed a ride the Salvatore’s house. She said yes and that she would meet me there in 5. I got in my car and turned on my music loudly. She would know which car was mine.

About 5 minutes later, Bonnie got in the passenger seat.

“Hey, thanks for giving me a ride.”

I turned down the music a little so that we could talk.

“So, what’s this about you having a friend that can help me?”

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I hoped Wand was coming tomorrow and not tonight.

“Yeah, she’s a witch. Her powers are a little different than yours, but I think that she will be able to help you with control.”

“Cool,” she said, smiling and looking out the window. I smiled too, and kept driving.

When we got to the house, I got out and took the stake out of my backpack and attached it to the mechanism that was already strapped to my arm. I winked at Bonnie who watched me with a mixture of amusement and awe, and we walked to the house.

Not bothering to knock. I walked inside with Bonnie right behind me.

“Hello beautiful Salvatore brothers!” I said loudly. I heard a whoosh, and then Damon was standing in front of me, smirking.

“I heard ‘beautiful’ and ‘Salvatore’ and I came.”

I smirked right back to hide the obvious skip in my heartbeat that came with seeing him.

“How do you know I wasn’t talking about Stefan?” I said playfully. He laughed and threw his arm around me, but immediately drew his arm back and clutched his head.

“Oww!” he said, glaring at Bonnie. I smirked at him, amused, but threw a look at Bonnie.

“It’s okay Bonnie. If I didn’t want his arm around me, I would’ve broken it and shoved it up his- “

I was interrupted by the sound of laughter coming from the staircase. I looked up to see Stefan smiling. Damon had regained his composure and was now looking at his brother laughing. He rolled his eyes and put his arm back around me and we walked to the living room. I could feel Bonnies eyes on me, but at the moment, I didn’t really care. We sat down on the couch, and Stefan and Bonnie sat in chairs across from us.

“Where’s our lovely Miss Elena?” I asked. I wanted to get this over with so I could go to Caroline’s.

“She should be here any second now. She had to stop at home to get something. I think. Something about a dress for tonight… I zoned out when she started talking about fashion.”

Damon and I chuckled, and Bonnie cracked a smile.

Just as I was about to ask if they had any chips or something, the door opened.

“Sorry I’m late Stefan, I had to get my dress…” she trailed off when she saw everyone else, specifically me and Damon on the couch together. She just kind of stood there before walking over to the chair next to Stefan.

“Stef, do you have any food? Specifically unhealthy food? I haven’t had the time to go grocery shopping yet and all I have at my house is leftover Chinese food.” He nodded and motioned towards the kitchen. I thanked him and walked out of the room and towards heaven- I mean the kitchen. I could feel Damon’s eyes on me as I walked, and I made sure I swung my hips just a little more than usual. I looked around the kitchen for food, and my eyes immediately went to the popcorn sitting out. I grabbed the bag and started to go back, but stopped when I heard whispering. Using my enhanced hearing, I stood there, the bag still in my hands, listening.

“Does she have to be here?” I heard her asking.

“Yes, Elena. She’s been very helpful to us so far, and we need her for our plan.” Stefan answered. Yeah! Go Stefan! I heard Elena sigh and start to say something, but Damon interrupted her.

“Look, Elena. I get that you don’t like her for whatever reason, but Stefan and I do. So get over it.”

I could feel my cheeks heating up when he said that, so I calmed myself down, and walked back into the room, acting like I hadn’t heard anything. I sat back down next to Damon and looked at Bonnie.

“So how are you feeling? Do you think you can do it?”

“She better be able to do it,” Damon muttered and I elbowed him.

Bonnie glared at Damon before answering, “yes. I can do it. But my Grams is coming to help me.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Your Grams knows?”

She held her chin up. “My Grams knows everything. She will help.”

I raised my arms up in surrender. “I wasn’t asking you to defend your decision. I was just surprised that she knew. I would never- “I cut myself off. I had been about to say that I would never tell anyone else about my… condition, but I realized that nobody else knew.

“I would never have the strength to tell anybody if I had powers.” I finished lamely. Damon gave me a look that said that we would talk about this later, and I looked down. I knew that I trusted Damon, for some weird reason. I knew that he would never choose to hurt me. I also knew that if this whole situation played out like we planned it to, I wouldn’t have to tell Damon. A part of me wanted him to leave for that exact reason. It would kill me to have him be in danger because of me. But a part of me wanted him to stay so I could get to know him better.

Bonnie nodded and accepted my lame excuse for a sentence because she knew what I was talking about. Stefan was also studying me, and it was making me uneasy. I liked being in control of situations, and I was not in charge of this one. So I ended it.

“Ok, let’s get this over with.”

For the next half hour, we made sure everything was in place, down to the exact materials Bonnie needed to complete the spell.

“Alright I think we’re done here.” Said Damon, once we had gone over everything. Well, almost everything. A thought lingered in my mind, one that I was hesitant to bring up because I didn’t know how Damon would react. But I knew that if I didn’t say it, I would regret it.

“Damon,” I said cautiously, “what if she’s not there?”

He turned to look at me, with a look on his face that I couldn’t quite decipher. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, what if Katherine isn’t in the tomb? What if she got out somehow and didn’t tell you?” From what I had heard from the stories that Stefan had told me, Katherine was very manipulative. It didn’t seem that far-fetched. But to Damon, the idea seemed absurd.

“Why would she do something like that?” He asked with a confused look on his face. I studied him for a moment. His face showed genuine excitement that we were going to get his love back, but something in his eyes said that he was asking himself the same question. But that doubt was gone almost as soon as it had come and was replaced with a fierce and slightly angry look. I almost flinched away from him, but I held myself there. I was about to go in depth, but I glanced around me and noticed Stefan standing up. He seemed normal, but I could see his muscles tensing, as if ready for a fight. This plus the look in Bonnie’s eyes that said what-the-hell-are-you-doing-I-just-want-this-to-be-over, made me bite my tongue.

“Nothing, never mind. She’ll be there.” I added a smile at the end to make it seem more convincible, and for a second, I thought I saw the anger go away. But then I noticed how close we were, and I stepped back.

“Right, well I’m going to head over to Caroline’s. Do y’all need a ride?” I asked, looking at Elena and Bonnie.

“Actually, I brought my car so- “she was cut off by Bonnie elbowing her in the stomach.

“Ow!” she said at the same time Bonnie said, “Of course!”

They both looked at each other and then Bonnie said “Have you ever been in Ada’s car? It’s so cool.”

I smiled and went to grab my stuff. When I got back, Damon was sipping a glass of bourbon and Stefan was talking to Elena in hushed tones that I couldn’t hear, even with my enhanced hearing.

On our way out, I could hear Stefan and Damon talking quietly.

“What do you think Ada meant by that?” Damon asked Stefan.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think she meant any harm. You shouldn’t be mad at her for bringing up every possible situation.”

“I know,” he said swirling his drink, “but it’s the way she said it. Like she was sure something would happen.”

“I think you’re just over thinking it, Damon. Why don’t you go get some rest.” I couldn’t hear what else was said, but as I turned back, I saw Damon’s piercing blue eyes staring back at me.


	9. Chapter 9

The ride to Caroline’s was short but awkward. Bonnie kept trying to make conversation between me and Elena, but we were both pretty quiet. I kept replaying the look in Damon’s eyes when I had suggested that Katherine wasn’t in the tomb. I usually prided myself in the fact that I didn’t care what other people thought of me, but the feeling that Damon’s look gave me was not a good one. Suddenly, I heard Bonnie’s voice, telling me that we were here. I parked and we all walked up to her house. As Bonnie was knocking on the door, I told myself to push everything Damon related down, and I could box it out later. Right now, I needed to have some girl time. My thoughts were interrupted by Caroline opening the door, excited and bubbly as ever.

“Hey guys! Come on in!”

We all walked inside and made our way to the kitchen where fresh cookies were sitting.

“I was really bored so I made cookies for us!” she said happily.

I smiled at her, pushing down the sad feeling in my chest. Wanda and I would always make cookies when we were sad, and it made me miss her even more. I pulled out my phone and sent her a text asking when she would get here. Then I put my phone away and set my bag down.

“These look amazing Care,” said Elena grabbing some. I also grabbed some, before Caroline ushered us into her room.

“Ok! I have a few different outfits that I can’t choose between, and I need your help.” I smiled and sat down on her bed.

“Go for it Care.” I said, staring at the ceiling. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bonnie shaking her head fondly.

For the next like 20 minutes, we all helped Caroline pick out her outfit. Then she demanded to see ours, so I went to go change. When I got back, I saw that maybe my outfit was a little much. How should I know? I’ve never been to a high school party before. I wore a black tube top with jean shorts, and a Gucci belt (Gotta add some boujee to it). I still wore my white high tops, and I had put on some bracelets and hoop earrings that Nat had bought me for my birthday last year.

“Oooooooh YES Ada!” Caroline squealed.

“Is it too fancy?” I asked looking at myself in the mirror. “I must confess that I’ve never actually been to one of these before. I didn’t really know what to wear.” I looked to Caroline, who was wearing a small, flowy sundress that made her blue eyes stand out. Then I looked at Bonnie, who was wearing some cute jean shorts and a flowy, off the shoulder top, and Elena who was rocking some shorts and a cute tank top.

“No, that’s cute,” Bonnie reassured me. I smiled at her in thanks.

“Y’all look so cute too!” I said, feeling like a compliment was in order. They all smiled.

“Alright, on to makeup!” said Caroline. We all sat down in front of mirrors and started our makeup. We talked about the guys that were gonna be there, and who we were gonna hook up with tonight. Eventually, we got in my car, and drove to the party. I was feeling kind of nervous and slightly exposed as I got out of the car. There was music playing, and a large bonfire in the center. I was about to ask for a drink, when I felt someone grab my arm. In a heartbeat, I had my hand locked tightly around their wrist and twisted their arm behind their back.

“Ow!” I heard Damon’s voice say.

“Oh, Damon,” I said, releasing him, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know that was you.”

“It’s fine, I shouldn’t have snuck up on you anyway.” He looked at his wrist, where the bruising was slowly fading away. “Hell of a grip you got there,” he said, rather suspiciously. Oops. I hadn’t meant to grab him that hard. I shrugged, trying to play it off.

“I work out.”

He nodded, but I could tell he didn’t believe me. I decided to stop his train of thought before it went too far.

“Is it time?” I asked, feeling for the stake I had strapped into the bottom of my bra. I held my purse instinctively tighter. It held 8 syringes of vervain, and two more stakes. He raised an eyebrow. Then he raked his eyes over my form, stopping when he got back to my face. I raised an eyebrow.

“See something you like?” I asked, rather suggestively in my opinion. Apparently, he thought so too, because he took a step forward until we were even closer than before.

“You know I do,” he replied, quietly. We stood there, staring at each other for god knows how long, until Elena and Stefan showed up. In reality, I’m sure it wasn’t that long, but it sure as hell felt like it.

“Are we interrupting something?” Stefan asked with a small smirk. I stepped back from Damon and looked at Stefan.

“Not at all.” Then I turned around, and headed towards the tomb, feeling three pairs of eyes on me as I walked. I could just make out Elena asking Damon what that was, before I walked out of hearing distance.

I walked up to the tomb, looking around as I did. After a quick scan of the trees and finding the quickest route out of the area and to my car, I scaled the nearest tree. It always made me feel better to be able to see the layout of an area from above. I usually had Sam’s redwing, but he was back in D.C. with the others. After I looked for a little while, I heard footsteps, so I jumped down, landing in a crouch. I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket, and I pulled it out. It was a text from Wanda.

Hey! I should be there later tonight. Maybe 11? See you soon! :))

I laughed to myself at the use of the emoticon, before putting my phone in my bag and taking out my stakes and vervain syringes. As I carefully strapped them to my body, the rest of the gang came into the clearing. They were talking about all the ways that this could go wrong. Really? They wanted to talk about this now? I shook off my annoyance and turned to Bonnie.

“Are you ready?” I asked her. I had to be sure that she was able to do this, or else I would be defending her against an angry, heartbroken vampire, which was not what I was looking forward to. She nodded and looked back at her grams.

“Are you ready Grams?” she asked, reaching for her hand. Her grams took her hand, but was staring at me, with an odd look of recognition and fear on her face. I stiffened. Usually when people made that face, it meant that I had done something to them. What had I done to this woman? I wracked my brain for the name Bennet, but nothing came up.

“Grams?” Bonnie asked questioningly.

“Sorry, dear. Yes, I’m ready.” She smiled at her grand-daughter and stepped forward.

After calling upon the elements, she and Bonnie opened the tomb. Damon stepped forward, grabbing Elena. There was a small quarrel about how Elena shouldn’t go in the tomb, and how Grams would bring the tomb down if he took her in there with him, but Damon won, and they entered the tomb together.

Throughout all of this, I sat up in a tree, watching everything play out. I could see why Bucky liked being a sniper so much. You could see everything happening from up here. I glanced down at the bottom, trying to gauge how far of a drop it would be, and if I could get away with flipping off the branch I was currently sitting on, when I felt a rush of wind go past me. I immediately threw one of my vervain syringes like a dart, and the blur stopped to a halt in the form of a small girl. She had black hair, and was bending over so I couldn’t see her face. I jumped down from my branch, not bothering to do a flip. When I got to the girl, I pushed her over. She was lying down on the ground, not moving. I frowned. That little vervain should only slow a vampire down, not take them down and make them pass out. I nudged her with my foot, and she jumped up and attacked me. She had me on the ground with her hand around my neck.

“Who do you think you are?” she asked me breathily. I couldn’t help but turn my head to the side, thinking of how she probably had contracted AIDS or something from drinking all that blood, and now she was literally breathing down my neck.

I looked up at her, my green eyes blazing.

“My name is Adalaide Romanova.”

I saw her eyes widen slightly, before she pushed harder on my throat. I was starting to run out of breath, so I grabbed her wrist from my neck, and using all my strength, pulled it away from my neck. I looked her in the eye as I forcefully squeezed my hand until I heard the distinct sound of bones cracking. Then I pushed her off me, and with speed that I didn’t know I possessed, I rolled over so that I had one knee on her neck and my stake in another. I leaned in close, so my breath was brushing over her cheek.

“Don’t ever touch me again.”

Then I stabbed her in the stomach with my stake. She grunted in pain, but her eyes were wild with fear. I wonder just what she heard about me that made her so afraid. I flash of guilt went through me when I thought about what I had done to earn that fear, but it was gone as quickly as it had come.

“Now,” I said with my voice as calm as I could get it, “I believe in second chances, so I’m gonna let you go. I also know that there is something special to you in that tomb, and I’m going to let you get it, with one exception.”

The girl under me nodded.

“You are going to leave town with whoever it is and build a life away from here. And you will never tell anyone what has transpired here tonight. Kapeesh?”

The girl could only nod. I felt my face soften slightly. She was only a child, even if she was an old vampire. She seemed like she was tuned when she was only 16 or 17. That was pretty young. I got off her, and she sped off into the tomb. When I stood up and brushed myself off, I suddenly became aware of the three people staring at me. Bonnie’s Grams looked terrified and weary at the same time, and kept switching her gaze from Bonnie, to the tomb, to me, and back to Bonnie. Bonnie herself looked slightly proud and maybe a tiny bit afraid. But Stefan was the easiest to read. The look on his face read varying degrees of fear, awe, and curiosity, as well as wariness. I knew that he had heard my full name, which was dangerous for him, but I also knew that I could trust him to keep my secret.

I walked towards Stefan, who tensed slightly. I rolled my eyes.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I said. Then I lowered my voice. “I just need to make sure you won’t tell anyone my full name.”

“Why would I- “he started, but I cut him off.

“Just promise me. It’s dangerous if you know.”

His jaw clenched, but he nodded.

“The words, Stefan.”

“I promise.”

I nodded. Then we were both distracted by a scream coming from inside the tomb. We both jogged over to the opening.

“I’m going in there,” said Stefan.

“You can’t!” said Bonnie, “You’ll be trapped.” Then she continued to explain how she hadn’t really lifted the curse at all. Damon wouldn’t be able to leave. I saw Stefan hesitate, then saw the look in his eyes change. I stepped forward.

“Stefan, NO.” I said quickly. He was one of the vampires I liked and didn’t have the urge to kill because of their annoyance and gorgeous eyes and flawless skin and soft, floppy, hair that-

“I’m sorry Ada. I’m going.”

“NO!” I shouted, but he had already sped into the tomb. I turned to Bonnie.

“Bonnie, you have to help them. They can’t just die in there!” I watched as Bonnie slowly went over the pros and cons in her mind. Then she turned to her Grams.

“Please, Grams, you have to help me.”

They argued for a little bit, with Bonnie even saying she would do it by herself, but eventually Grams helped. The first person who came out of the tomb was the girl I had almost killed. There was a bloodstain on her shirt from where I stabbed her, and she was carrying a woman that looked similar to her. Her mom, I realized with a start. She was going in to get her mom. We made eye contact, and I nodded at her. Then she sped off into the night.

Then came Stefan and Elena, with Damon close behind. Stefan and Elena looked worried and they both rushed over to me, and stood in front of me.

“Where’s Katherine?” I asked Stefan and Elena quietly. Stefan gave me a look that said shut your mouth of you want to live and Elena was shaking her head wildly.

“No seriously guys. Where is she? We did this for nothing?” I said a little louder. That was when I heard the growl. Then a rush of wind, and I was on the ground.

“What did you do to her?” Damon growled, his veins showing.

“Damon, what are you talking about? Where’s Katherine?” His grip on my throat tightened, and I choked slightly.

“You said it. You knew she wasn’t gonna be there. This is your fault.”

What? Katherine wasn’t in the tomb? To be fair I did warn him this might happen, and he didn’t listen. And what was this? He blamed me??? Oh no sir. Oh no fucking sir. No way was I going to allow him to put his fucking guilt on my fucking shoulders. Nope. I could feel my anger igniting, and I lifted my hands from my sides to put them on his wrists. Again, using all my strength, I pulled his hands away. I saw his eyes widen, and I used this as an incentive to pull myself up into a sitting position. Still holding his wrists, I leaned into his face.

“You may be pretty, and I may like you, but that does not give you permission to throw your fucking problems and guilt on me just because I thought of an issue and you were too proud to notice.”

Then I used my anger to push him off me, and onto the ground. Then I stood up, and for the second time today, brushed off my clothes. Then I looked around at everybody. At Elena and Stefan, who were both staring at me, Elena with more fear than Stefan. At Bonnie who was holding her Grams in her arms. And finally, at Damon, who was laying on the ground with a look similar to awe on his face. Then I walked back to the tree that I had climbed at the beginning of this whole escapade, grabbed my purse, and walked out of the clearing to my car and drove home.


	10. Chapter 10

When I got home, I pulled out my phone.

_2 missed calls from: Wanda_

_Text from: Wanda_

_I’ll be there in an hour. Can’t wait to see you!_

_Text from: Wanda_

_I’m almost here. What’s ur address again?_

_Text from: Wanda_

_Ada? Hello?_

_Text from: Wanda_

_Ok since ur not picking up ur phone, u must be doing something right now. Pls call me when u get the chance_.

I sighed. Wanda was probably furious. She hated when I didn’t answer my phone, and I forgot to give her my address, which meant she was either wandering around the town, or at the Grill. I decided to take a chance on the Grill since I needed a drink anyway. But, first, I needed to change. These clothes were starting to get uncomfortable.

Once I had changed into some joggers and a light sweater, I pulled on my new balances and left the house. I thought about texting Wanda that I was going to the Grill, but I decided to just surprise her.

When I got to the small restaurant, I immediately spotted the brown hair that I knew so well. I smiled and walked up to her, but I stopped in my tracks when I saw who she was talking to. She was facing me, so she waved me forward. The person who she was talking to turned around. His eyes seemed to look right through me, and I could feel my heart racing. His face immediately turned from slight annoyance at whatever had interrupted his talk with a pretty girl, to regret and maybe hope? I couldn’t quite tell.

“I see you’ve made the wonderful acquaintance of Damon Salvatore,” I said, coming over to Wanda to give her a hug.

She laughed. “Yes, he was very charming. He mentioned he knew you, but he didn’t say how…” she trailed off, her soft, accented voice leaving me to fill in the blanks. I smiled. Boy was she in for a surprise.

“I missed you Ads,” she said into our hug. I held her tighter.

“I missed you too.” Then we pulled apart, and she moved over a seat so I could sit in between Damon and her. She must’ve felt that I wanted to be near him and acted on it. Oh, how I had missed her. I sent her a feeling of gratitude, and she gave me a small smile.

“Well Wanda, this is Damon Salvatore, one of the gorgeous vampires I told you about.”

Damon choked on his drink, and I saw Wanda’s eyes widen fractionally before going back to their regular size.

Damon stared at me. “She knows??” He asked.

“Of course she knows. She’s practically my sister. I tell her everything.” I took a sip of my drink, and then looked into his eyes as I continued, “In fact, she was the one I called the first day I got here when I figured it out.” Of course, I hadn’t figured it out on the first day, but Damon didn’t need to know that.

He looked at Wanda. “And you were cool with talking to me? Knowing what I am?”

She smiled one of her strange smiles. “Well, I didn’t know that you were one of them. But I’ve faced many things worse than a vampire, Mr. Salvatore.” There was a hint of sadness in her eyes when she said that, and I placed my hand on her arm.

Damon didn’t seem to know how to react to that. His face was confused, and he kept glancing at me. I knew he wanted to talk to me, and I knew that I needed to talk to him. I owed him an explanation, and he owed me an apology. Maybe we could work out our differences and maybe even try being friends.

“Right,” said Damon, “do you think I could borrow Ada for a moment? I really need to talk to her about something.”

Wanda looked at me, eyebrow raised.

_Is that okay?_

I heard her loud and clear in my head. I hid my smile with a sip of my drink. I was happy that our bond was still there. It had taken hours to set it up, but we could always talk to each other if we were in close enough proximity to each other.

_Yeah. He owes me an apology._

She smirked slightly and then looked back at Damon, who was watching us with slightly narrowed eyes.

“Of course.” Then she turned away and pulled out her phone, taking a sip of her drink as she did so.

_I’ll be listening._

I smirked to myself. Of course she would be.

_I have no doubt._

We walked outside to the back, and he shoved his hands in his pocket.

“Look Ada- “

“You owe me an apology,” I cut him off. “You had no right to blame your problems and guilt on me. I tried to help earlier when I asked what we would do if she wasn’t there, and you disregarded it.”

He looked down. “I know. And I feel terrible. But you also owe me an explanation. There aren’t many humans that are stronger than a vampire.” I looked down. I could feel Wanda trying to push at my thoughts, telling me not to tell him. Every instinctual bone in my body was saying this was a bad idea. But he needed to know.

“If you give me an apology, a good one, then I’ll tell you about me.”

He was silent, and for one, sickening, moment, I thought he wasn’t going to do it. I thought he was going to leave.

But then he took one of my hands.

“Ada, I am so, so sorry. I know you didn’t deserve for me to attack you, even though you kicked my ass for doing it. I was so on edge, and when you asked where she was, I just snapped. I could see the complete concern for me in your eyes, and in that one, vulnerable second, I hated it. I hated how you cared so much for me, someone who clearly doesn’t deserve it. In the week that you’ve been here, you’ve managed to repair my brother and I’s relationship, which has been severely fucked up since the moment we turned, and you’ve made both me and Stefan so much happier. I realize now that I am truly happy and lucky to have you in my life and be able to hopefully call you my friend.”

I just stood there, mouth open, for god knows how long. Damon Salvatore, the unfeeling, cold and calculating vampire, just called me his friend. He gave me an actual apology. He looked up, and his icy blue eyes that held so much inner turmoil met mine. I put a hand on his cheek, and gave him a small smile.

“I forgive you Damon.”

And with those four words, I saw his shoulders relax a little bit, and his eyes lighten.

“Really? I almost killed you,” he asked uncertainly.

I smiled softly. “Really.”

We stood like that for a moment, him leaning into my hand, and just staring at each other. Then I remembered what I had to tell him.

“Oh!” I said straightening slightly. He straightened up too, and looked at me expectantly.

“I have to tell you about me.” I looked back at the restaurant where Wanda was still sitting.

_Meet me at the car ASAP. I’m telling Damon everything, and I need your help._

I saw her stand up, grab her stuff, and walk outside to my car.

“Come with me,” I said, dropping my hand to hold his, “I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”

 

The drive to my house was filled with a comfortable silence, with the only time it was broken being Wanda asking him questions about how old he was and asking him stories about the different times he had lived through. He had responded saying that he was around 160ish, and telling her about all the fun times he had in the 20’s.

When we got back to my house, Wanda and I walked straight in. I turned around to face Damon.

“You can come in.”

He smiled gratefully and stepped forward, looking at the house around him as he did so.

“You have a nice house Ads!” said Wanda, looking around. She walked straight towards the kitchen and I shook my head fondly. Oh, how I had missed her.

“Ada! Where is all the food??” I rolled my eyes and followed her into the kitchen, leaving Damon to look at all the photographs I had set up on the fireplace in the living room. I know it wasn’t exactly safe to have your loved ones right in the eye of the door, but it helped me not miss everyone so much.

“I just went to the store, relax,” I said as I took some popcorn out of the cabinet and put it in the microwave. “Besides, I’m only shopping for one now, not fifteen.”

She just rolled her eyes and patiently waited for the popcorn to be finished. Then Damon walked in.

“Alright so you want to know what’s up with me, yes?” I asked, looking him in the eye.

“Yes. You owe me that at least.” I smiled warmly and nodded.

“Yes I do.” I saw him glance at Wanda.

“She’s staying here. I may need her help with the story, it’s pretty… intense.” He nodded.

When Wanda’s popcorn was done, she poured it into a bowl and we all moved to the living room. Wanda lounged on the couch, and Damon and I took the chairs opposite to her. I laughed nervously.

“I don’t know where to start.” I said softly, looking at Wanda for help.

She took a breath, and set down the bowl. “My name is Wanda Maximoff. Her full name is Adalaide Romanova.” I saw his eyes widen.

“I’ve heard of you,” he said looking between us, “both of you.” I knew that this was not going to be an easy conversation. So I thought fuck it, and dove straight in.

“I was born in 1985, in Stalingrad, Russia. My older sister was born a year before me. At a very young age, we were kidnapped and taken by an operation known as the Red Room. They killed our parents, and any witnesses there might’ve been. They brought us to this… place, that they said was to become our new home. But even though we were young, we knew that this wasn’t our home. It was a place where they brainwashed young female orphans like us and trained us in combat and espionage. For the next 10 or so years, that’s how my sister and I lived. That’s the reason I wanted you and Stefan to make up. For years, the only person I could count on and trust was my sister. She was the only person that I knew wasn’t going to suddenly turn on me and kill me.” I looked down at my hands. This part was always the part that got people to see me differently.

“One day, some people by the name of HYDRA came to the Red Room. They said they were looking for some new recruits to bring into their program. They had brought this big soldier with them. He had a metal arm.” I glanced at Damon and saw his eyebrows shoot up.

“Are you talking about- “

“The Winter Soldier? Yes.” I grimaced and looked down.

“Natasha, that’s my sister, had just finished beating the strongest of all the girls in her group. I stopped looking at the soldier and looked at my sister just in time to see her break the girl’s neck. My sister was 16 when she made her first kill.” I looked over to see his reaction. He was staring at me, eyes wide. But there was no pity in them like I was afraid there would be. It gave me the strength to continue with my story.

“I was still reeling from the shock of seeing my older sister kill someone with her bare hands, when someone instructed me to get on the mat. The next thing I knew, I was fighting the Winter Soldier. I lost, of course, I was 15 and tiny compared to him. But they seemed pleased, and they whisked me out of the room. For the next week, I was pumped full of stuff that made my body feel like it was on fire. One day, it all stopped. I woke up, and I thought I was dead. The pain was gone, and my body had this sort of buzzing feeling going through it. The next couple of days were filled with tests, and then I was released for my first mission. The only thing I remember is being able to move faster and quieter, as well as being stronger than I was before. When I got back, they named me The Scorpion, and I was constantly being put on missions. I rarely got to see my sister, but to be honest, they were putting so much stuff in my body and brainwashing me almost daily that I’m not sure I would’ve remembered her anyway.” I paused and looked into the fire. Wanda reached across and put her hand on my arm.

“I don’t know how much longer I was in that state, but I remember Nat coming to get me. At that point, I thought she was just another handler, so I went with her. Only later when the brainwashing effects started to wear off, did I recognize her. An organization called SHEILD had rescued us, and Nat introduced me to a man named Fury. He seemed nice enough, but I had learned my lesson about trusting anybody, so I didn’t trust him. Eventually, SHEILD collapsed, HYDRA was outed, and my sister and I have been on the run with the Avengers ever since. I try not to fight with the Avengers, because I don’t want anyone to see my face. So if I do fight, I wear my mask, or I don’t do it at all.

“The reason I don’t judge you for what you are, is because I have done probably the same amount of bad things in my short life, than what you have done in your long one. And for that exact reason, I never judge anyone until I know them.”

After I was done with my depressing-as-fuck story, I looked at Damon to see his reaction. His pale blue eyes shown with emotion.

“Ada I,” he paused, and in that moment, I knew exactly what he was thinking. What the hell was someone supposed to say to that?

“It’s okay, Damon. You don’t have to say anything.”

“No,” he said, taking my hand.

"I think I’ll leave you two alone," Wanda said, as she rose from her seat and walked out of the room.

“Ada, no one should ever have to go through that. Ever. The fact that you’re only 17 and have experienced all of this pain is incredibly fucked up. And I know that you probably don’t want to hear it, but I’m sorry. I’m sorry that all of this had to happen to you, and that you may never get to live a life that’s not on the run.”

I nodded, my eyes watering slightly.

“Thank you, Damon.” I whispered.

He smiled and stood up and pulled me into a hug. At this point, I didn’t even try to control my heart rate. I had never experienced these types of feelings before, let alone be in a relationship. Wait what? When did I start thinking of a relationship with him? My stone-cold exterior was going to shit. I could practically feel myself melting in his arms. His strong muscles surrounded me and made me feel safe and protected. Every inch of my primal instincts was telling me to push him away, that he would end up hurting me, but I told them to fuck off, and hugged him tighter. Then a thought came to my mind.

“Are you still gonna leave?” I asked him quietly.

He sighed and let go of me, his hands sliding down my arms to meet mine. He didn’t meet my eyes.

“I don’t know. I know that everything I do here causes chaos, but I don’t want to leave Stefan. Or you.” He said the last part so quietly, that if I didn’t have enhanced hearing, I wouldn’t have heard him.

I gently put my hand underneath his chin and pushed his head up so our eyes met.

“So don’t leave. Stay here. With Stefan. With me. I want to get to know you more. Without all the Katherine drama.”

I could feel him stiffen at her name, but I knew I had to say it. I stepped away from him.

“Damon, I want to be friends with you, but if all you’re gonna think about is her, then I don’t want to be around that.” I raised my chin a little and then went on. “I know who I am, Damon. I will never be the second choice.”

His eyes flashed, and for a second, I thought maybe I had gone too far. I shifted into a defensive position, but I relaxed when I heard what he said.

“I’m over her, Ada. Stefan and I talked about a lot of stuff, and he made me realize how manipulative she was. I went into the tomb to kill her, but I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t know who I could trust.”

I’m pretty sure my jaw dropped all the way to the floor. He smirked.

“I really want to get to know you too. I think we could be really good friends, especially with the whole sob story past.”

I couldn’t help it, I laughed. He always made light of the situation.

“So does that mean you’re staying?” I asked, hope shining out of me. He smiled a real, genuine smile.

“Yeah, I’m staying.”

I smiled and jumped into his arms once more. For some godforsaken reason, I felt safer with him than anybody else, excluding Nat of course. After that, we talked for hours, about anything and everything. Eventually though, I ended up dozing off. I felt the ghost of a kiss on my forehead, and then a whoosh of wind, and he was gone. I felt my body lifting off the ground, and into my bed. I woke up to see Wanda curled up beside me, reading her book with one hand stroking my hair. When she realized I was awake, she turned and smiled at me.

“What happened? I could feel your happiness from across the house.”

“You mean you weren’t listening in? I’m surprised.” I said sleepily.

She chuckled. “Contrary to popular belief, I do give you privacy every once in a while. You can tell me about it tomorrow though. For now, get some sleep.”

I smiled, and snuggled into my covers, the words _Yeah, I’m staying_ repeating over and over in my head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yayyyyyyy more long chapters!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aight there's a lot of Elena bashing in this one so get ready

For once, I didn’t want to jump off a bridge when I woke up. I looked to the side and saw Wanda curled up beside me, book still in hand. The thought of her being here with me sent a jolt of happiness through me, and it gave me enough motivation to get up for the day. I trudged down the hall to go make some coffee, when I heard my phone ringing. I rushed back to my room in an effort not to wake Wanda. I picked up the phone and glared at it.

“Hello?” I asked, walking back to the kitchen.

“Hey, Ada, It’s Bonnie. I need you to come over to my Grams’ house. Something’s wrong.” Her voice sounded panicked.

“What do you mean something’s wrong? Like you’re being attacked something’s wrong or you can’t find the tea kettle something’s wrong.”

“Grams is really sick, she keeps coughing and her heart rate is really slow. I tried to call 911 but she wouldn’t let me.” She paused, and I could hear her take a shaky breath. “Ada I can feel her magic. She feels… weak.” I froze. That wasn’t good. I rushed back to my room to get dressed.

“Ok I’m on my way. Just keep her comfortable.”

“Alright, please hurry!”

I hung up and shook Wanda awake.

“Wan, we have to go. Something’s wrong with the Bonnie’s grandma.”

I heard her mutter something along the lines of _why do we care_ , and turn back over. I rolled my eyes.

“Bonnie is the witch I was telling you about. This is a great time to meet her.” That got her to sit up and fix me with a look that said _really bitch?_

“I don’t think meeting her when her grandmother is dying is the best idea. She’ll be in pain and lash out, probably at me since I’m the other witch and I couldn’t help her.” I sighed. She brought up a good point. I had been going through the different scenarios, and all of them came to the conclusion that she was dying. My best guess was that she had overworked herself the other night, and her body couldn’t take it.

“Alright, but I want you to meet her afterwards, okay? Y’all need to get to know each other.” She nodded and snuggled back into the covers. I grabbed my phone and drove over to her house as fast as I could. When I got there, I hesitated. This wasn’t going to go well, and I didn’t want to disappoint Bonnie. I shook myself off, and walked to the front door. I hadn’t even knocked yet when she opened it.

“Oh thank god you’re here.” She said breathlessly. Her eyes were wet with tears, and she kept sniffing. I put a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down.

“Of course. Now may I speak with her?” Maybe I could get a sense of what was really wrong here, and break it to Bonnie a little softer.

She nodded and led me to a large bedroom with lilac walls. In the center of the bed was Sheila Bennet. Her eyes widened fractionally when she saw me, and I saw her tense up as I stepped closer. I held up my hands placatingly.

“I’m not here to hurt you Sheila. Bonnie said you were hurt, and I’m here to see what I can do.” She relaxed a tiny bit, but I could tell she was still wary of me. I could understand why. I sat down on a chair next to her bed. I took her hand and closed my eyes. Using the tricks Wanda had taught me, I began to use my own energy to help ease her pain. I opened my eyes, to see her staring at me in awe.

“How?” she asked, almost a whisper. I looked down.

“My friend is a very powerful witch. She taught me some things. Plus, it helps to have a little bit of magic of my own.” I winked at her conspiratorially. In truth, I had read some of HYDRA’s transcripts, and they said that I wouldn’t develop the rest of my powers until I turned eighteen, which was a week from now. However, they also said that my powers would start to show up to three weeks before. I had told Wanda, and she had explained to me a little bit and helped me understand them and control them.

“But you’re not a witch,” Sheila said, confused. I shook my head.

“No, but some very dangerous people gave me some very dangerous injections that gave me them.”

She still looked confused, but we didn’t have time to dwell on my past. The poor woman was dying for Pete’s sake! I looked up to see Bonnie standing in the corner.

“Bonnie why don’t you call Elena over. She needs to see that what she and her friends are doing has consequences.” A look came over her face, and she nodded and stormed off.

“I’m dying,” Sheila said, grasping my hand tighter. “Bonnie knows that, but she doesn’t want to admit it.”

“I can’t save you,” I said regretfully. “I don’t know what Bonnie told you, but I can’t help you. I’m sorry.” She brushed my concerns away with a weak hand.

“It’s fine. I’ve already accepted it, and she should too.” Then she tried to sit up.

“Oh, don’t do that- “I said, trying to help her. But she just looked at me, and I took my hand back.

“Look, Adalaide,” I stiffened at the use of my full name. “I know that Bonnie will follow her heart to the end of the world, and I know that it will eventually be the death of her. I need you to make sure that she makes the right choices with her heart. I hope to never see her in the Other Side.” Her breaths turned into coughs, and she slumped back into the pillows.

“I know about you. What you are. You came to my neighborhood one time, to collect someone down the street. Burnt the house down. I tried to stop you, but when I touched your arm, I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. It was like a blank slate, with 8 words repeating over and over again. So I did some research.” She paused and let out another cough. I tried to hand her some water but she brushed it off. In the back of my mind, I could hear the door opening and closing, signaling that Elena was here.

“What they did to you was horrible. And all I ask is that you protect Bonnie from whatever that was. She’s strong, but she’s not that strong.” I nodded slowly. I doubted they would ever find out about her, but you never know.

“I promise to keep her safe.” I said. She smiled, and then I felt this weight lift off my shoulders. I shivered and all the plants and flowers around me shriveled up and died. It was only then that I realized that Bonnie and Elena were standing behind me. Bonnie let out a scream and rushed to her side, whispering her name over and over. Elena just stood there, tears in her eyes. I looked her in the eyes, making sure she knew that this one was on her. She visibly gulped and then hurried to Bonnie’s side. I sighed and walked over there also. I laid a hand on her shoulder.

“When you’re ready to talk about it, give me a call.”

Then I walked out of the house, somehow feeling worse than I did when I walked in.

 

When I got home, I felt super drained. Being around all that magic had taken a toll on me, and I really needed a nap. I was about to crash onto the couch, when I heard Wanda’s lilting accent float through the house.

“Thank goodness you’re back. I was super hungry and I wanted to wait until you got back to go to brunch.” She waltzed into the kitchen, wearing some light-washed jeans with a flowy white top and her signature rings and necklaces. She walked over with her shoes floating behind her, and sat down. Using her magic, she put her shoes on and gave me a look that said _get your shit together._ I rolled my eyes.

“What? My nails weren’t dry yet.” I laughed and got up to go change.

I came back out about fifteen minutes later, dressed in some jeans and a light orange top with my favorite leather jacket. I pulled on some booties and grabbed my purse.

“Alrighty-tighty let’s go.” She jumped up.

“I’m driving!!” she said, and ran to my car.

“Jokes on you, I hid the keys,” I said triumphantly. I heard a small giggle from inside the car, before seeing my keys float out of my hiding spot in my purse, into her hand.

“Stupid telekinesis,” I muttered as I got into the passenger seat. She sent me a victorious smile, and started the car.

The Grill was emptier than usual today, so we got to sit in a booth without a 20-minute fucking wait. Wanda settled herself down in her half of the booth, and then looked at me with her big hazel eyes.

“So how’d it go at Bonnie’s?” she asked. I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my water that the waiter had dropped off.

“Not good. Her grams ended up dying, which we already knew would happen, but she made me promise to keep her safe.”

“And did you? Promise her?” Wanda asked, making an origami swan out of her napkin. I raised an eyebrow.

“Of course I fucking promised her. I’m not that big of a jerk to deny a woman of her dying wish.”

“Weeell…” she said giving me a look. I grabbed her swan and ripped it in half. She gasped and looked at me in horror.

“You ripped my swan.”

“You called me a jerk.”

“Well I didn’t mean it before, but I do now. I hope you choke on your water.”

I laughed. Oh, how I had missed her. She rolled her eyes, but I could see her hiding her smile in her water.

“So how is the Bennet witch taking it?”

I sighed. “Not good. I can tell she’s barely holding herself together. I made her call her friend Elena so she could see that everything she does has a consequence.” I grimaced and stirred my straw around. “She just acts like everything in the world is about her. She doesn’t even care if the people around her get affected by it.”

“She’s only 17 and I’ll bet you good money she’s never left this town.” Wanda said, placing a hand on mine. I sighed.

“I know, but it’s still annoying to me.”

For a while, we just sat there, both in our heads, not saying anything. Then our thinking was interrupted by a boy coming to take our order.

“Hi, my name’s Matt. What can I get for you ladies today?” I smiled at him. He reminded me of Steve in a way. Blonde hair, blue eyes; less muscly though. He also had this kind look in his eyes, mixed with a deep sort of sadness that made me wonder whether he was something supernatural or not. I glanced at Wanda for a split second, and she gave me a miniscule shake of her head. That made me wonder what this poor teenager had seen in his human life to make him so sad.

“Hey, you go to Mystic Falls Highschool right? I’ve seen you around.”

He nodded and his eyes brightened slightly.

“Yeah. You’re Ada right?”

I smiled brightly at him. “Yep, that’s me,” I looked at Wanda, who was smirking slightly. Matt turned his gaze to her as well.

“Do you go there too? I don’t think I’ve seen you around.”

Wanda shook her head. “Oh, no. I’m just here visiting Ada.” She smiled politely at him.

“Cool. Well, what can I get you guys?”

I ordered a cheeseburger, and Wanda ordered a salad. I scrunched up my nose.

“Really Wan? Salad?”

She rolled her eyes. “I haven’t had salad in a while. Sue me.”

I smirked and bit into my cheeseburger when it arrived a few moments later.

“Mmmmm,” I said as the juice dripped down my chin.

“Oh shut up,” Wanda said, throwing a leaf of lettuce at me. I laughed and took another bite. Wanda opened her mouth to ask me a question, but was interrupted by the abrupt opening of the front doors. In stormed the scooby gang, like moms on a mission. Elena was at the front, with the two Salvatores following behind her. Damon looked bored and slightly annoyed, and Stefan looked worried. They sat down at a booth near us, but far enough away so they didn’t see us, and began to talk in hushed tones. I held up a finger to Wanda and focused on listening to them.

“So she was already at the house?” Stefan asked Elena. I saw Elena nod.

“But I don’t know how she would’ve known unless Bonnie called her first.”

“And tell me why that is ruled out as an option again?” Damon’s sarcastic voice rang out.

“Because Bonnie would’ve called me right away.” Elena replied, although she sounded a little unsure. I instinctively rolled my eyes. Highschool drama. Gross.

“Ok so let’s assume for now that Bonnie called Ada first. Why do you think she killed her?”

I nearly choked on my water at that. Elena thought I killed Bonnie’s grams? Why in the ever-living fuck would she think that? Then I thought about how I was that last one to see her, and my anger softened a little. But it reared back up again when I heard her next words.

“I think she’s hiding something. I don’t know what, but I know it’s something big. I think that Bonnie’s grams figured it out, and she was too much of a liability, so Ada killed her. Plus, when I came into the room after she died, she looked at me…weird.” There was a little bit of silence, and then,

“So you’re telling me,” Damon said, pausing to take a sip of his drink. “You’re telling me that you think that Ada, a girl who’s never given you a real reason to suspect her for anything, killed someone because she looked at you weird.” There was another bit of silence.

“Yes.” Elena said quietly.

More silence.

“Have you asked what Bonnie thinks?” Stefan asked. Oh Stef. Always the reasonable one.

“No, I didn’t want to ask her. She was in tears! I can’t just ask her that right after her grams dies. I’ll ask her tomorrow, when she’s feeling better.” Tomorrow? Wow, one day. One day to grieve. How kind of her. At that point, I couldn’t take it anymore. I stood up from my seat, leaving a bunch of twenties on the table to pay the bill. Wanda stood up with me.

_What’s the plan here Ads?_

My eyes glowed angrily. This bitch really thought that it was _my fault_ that her best friend’s grandmother died. She really blamed _me_ for her problems.

_I’m gonna knock some sense into her._

I could feel Wanda urging me not to make a scene, but my anger was clouding my judgement. If Bucky were here, he would tell me to say my list. But Bucky wasn’t here, which meant that I could do whatever I damn wanted to. Something told me that this girl had never been in a fight in her life, and I knew I could take her down in three seconds flat. However, I knew that Stefan would come after me for beating Elena’s ass, and I really didn’t want to beat up a vampire tonight. So I decided I would hold in my fighting for tonight, and hurt her with my words instead. I walked up to their table and stopped in front of them. Damon and Stefan stood up to give me a hug, but Elena stayed sitting. Stefan sat back down, but Damon stayed standing with his hand on the small of my back, grounding me.

“So I hear that you think that I was the one to kill Bonnie’s grams.” I said coolly, looking right at Elena.

_Control yourself_ , Wanda warned.

To Elena’s credit, she stood up so she was level with me. At that point, Stefan stood up as well, ready to diffuse the situation.

“Where’d you hear that?” she asked nervously. I smirked and stepped closer.

“You.” My eyes flashed gold, something I only did when my instincts took over, or when I wanted to scare somebody. In this case, it was the scaring method. It worked, and she took a step back into Stefan, who steadied her.

“I understand that before I got here, everyone here worshipped the fucking ground you walked on. But I’m here now, and I’m here to expose who you really are.”

She stood straighter. “And who am I?”

I smirked. “You’re nothing but a self-absorbed teenager, who has never left the small town she grew up in, leaving her with preconceived notions that everyone will follow her senseless ideas and not care whether they’re wrong or not. Well newsflash, they’re wrong. I didn’t kill that woman, you did. You and your inability to see that your actions have consequences, and people are affected negatively by those consequences. You opened that tomb with no reason other than to make Damon leave, not even bothering to get to know him as a person with real feelings. If you had payed attention, you would’ve realized that even though Damon may hurt people, he is still a good person. You might’ve even realized that Stefan really wanted his brother to stay and have a good family relationship. But no. You were too absorbed in doing what you thought was good for everybody.” I took a deep breath and looked at Wanda, who was eyeing Elena as well, but turned to look at me when she felt my eyes on her. She gave me a small smile, and nodded, assuring me that she had my back.

“I understand that you’re still young, but I had hoped that you were less selfish. I guess I was wrong.” I could feel Damon’s hand snaking its way around my waist, and it took all the self-control that HYDRA had instilled in me not to turn around and kiss him right then and there. And while that would make a very dramatic exit, it just didn’t feel like the right time.

“I didn’t kill her. I know it and Bonnie knows it. And that’s all that matters to me.” I then took Damon’s hand and Wanda’s arm, and walked out of the restaurant.

“Why don’t you come back to the Boarding house? I’ll fix you some hot chocolate and you can tell me your side of the story.” Damon said, with his arms on my waist. I could feel myself falling for him more and more every day, and it was unnerving. I turned to Wanda.

_Is that ok?_

She smirked. _Of course. Use protection!_

I laughed and smacked her shoulder. Damon gave us a confused look.

“I’ll tell you about it later tonight.” He nodded and held his arms open. I stepped into them happily.

“Be careful with my car!” I warned Wanda. She laughed as she got in. “Of course, _malá sestra.“_

I smiled, and wrapped my arms around Damon’s torso. He zoomed us back to the boarding house, and dropped me on the couch.

“Thanks Damon.”

He smiled. “Don’t mention it.” I smiled up at him, before he zoomed away and came back a second later with two cups of hot cocoa.

“How did you not spill those?” I asked, genuinely curious.

He wiggled his eyebrows. “Magic.” I laughed and snuggled into his arm.

“I know you wanted to talk, but I’m so tired. I’ll just take a small nap, I promise.” He laughed and placed a kiss on my forehead.

“Sleep however long you want. I’ll wake you up if anything important happens.” I smiled again and then fell asleep to the sound of his breathing, thinking about how lucky I was to have such great friends in my life.


	12. Chapter 12

Waking up next to Damon was quite possibly the best feeling in the world. However, I was woken up by Stefan talking to Damon.

“Do you know an Isobel?” He asked Damon loudly. I reached around me and threw a pillow at him. I cracked an eye open just in time to see a pillow headed straight for my face. I squeaked and held up Damon’s arm as a shield.

“Don’t think so, why?” Damon said, while looking down at me fondly. The look itself caused my heart rate to speed up, and this time, I didn’t even bother hiding it.

“No reason,” Stefan frowned, and headed towards the door.

“I’m going over to Elena’s for a while, let me know if some serious shit goes down. Otherwise, don’t call.” He gave us a fake salute and walked out.

“My, my Stefan,” I said, knowing he could hear me, “you kiss Elena with that mouth?” Damon snorted, and I collapsed into a fit of giggles when we saw the middle finger that he shot us through the window. Then I looked up at Damon.

“What do you want to do for the rest of the day?” I asked, looking into his crystal blue eyes unashamedly.

“Well,” he started, his signature smirk spreading, “the only thing I have is the Founder’s Fundraiser tonight, but I’m free until then.” He wiggled his eyebrows a little after that, and if I hadn’t been working for years on controlling my emotions, I might’ve blushed. Instead I just rolled my eyes and patted him on the cheek.

“You’re cute.” I stood up, and stretched, popping all my joints. I walked over to my purse and picked it up.

“Well I will see you then. I have to train, I’ve been slacking a lot lately.” I saw his eyebrows furrow.

“Train for what?” he asked, looking confused.

“Just in general. It’s good to be prepared in case of anything. Plus, I haven’t actually worked out in forever, and my body is craving it.” he rolled his eyes.

“Whatever. I’ll see you at the Founder’s thing though right?”

I smiled at him, “Of course.” Then I walked out the door and drove home.

As soon as I got there, I changed into some leggings and a sports bra, along with my NewBalances. Then I walked into my training room and began to play my music. I had certain playlists for different aspects of training. For boxing, it was anything with a solid beat that I could hit to. For running it was songs with fast beats, mostly rap music. I put in my earbuds and began to hit the bag. I hit it harder and harder, thinking about HYDRA, and how I needed to be stronger. Each brainwashing session ran through my head. Kill after kill. When I finally stopped, my knuckles were so bloody that they left stains on the bag. I gave one last punch and it flew off its hook and across the room. I threw down my wraps angrily. I needed to be stronger.

“Wanda!” I called.

“What now?” she called back.

“You wanna spar?”

“Absolutely! Let me change and then I’ll be ready to go.” I shouted back an affirmative, before re-wrapping my hands. I winced slightly when the clean wraps touched the exposed skin then berated myself for it. I couldn’t afford to wince in pain at something so tiny. I was friends with vampires now, and that meant a lot more enemies who wouldn’t hesitate to harm me.

“Ready?” I heard Wanda ask. I nodded and stood up.

“Ready.”

She smirked. “Now, focus your energy. You’re almost eighteen, which means that your powers have almost completely manifested themselves. I’ll go easy on you for the first round, but after that I want you using everything to fight back, yes?”

“Okay,” I said. I closed my eyes, and tried to focus. I centered myself and my energy to my core, and used my magic to see what was around me without opening my eyes. Using this, I could see Wanda rush at me, so I ducked to the left. I opened my eyes that I knew were gold and began to fight.

After about 5 or so rounds, we both collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

“You did good,” Wanda said, “you focused and controlled your energy and used it to your advantage.” I sat up and helped Wanda up.

“Thanks, you did good too. You’re getting much better on not relying on your powers all the time.”

She smiled at me, but it faded quickly.

“Steve has asked me to come back in a day or so. He says there’s an important mission that he needs me for, so I leave the day after tomorrow. So, because I’m leaving soon, I want to go over you reading people’s minds and their emotions.”

“Why can’t we start today?” I asked, confused.

“Because you have to go to bed early tonight. You’ve got school tomorrow after all.” She winked at me and dodged the bloody wrap I threw at her.

“Ew!! I could get AIDS from that!”

“The person has to already have AIDS you moron.” I said rolling my eyes.

“And how do I know you don’t? I don’t know where you’ve been.”

“If HYDRA was good for one thing…” I trailed off, giving her a look. She sighed and walked with me to the kitchen, where she pulled out some fruit.

“You know I would rather you be here on my birthday.” I said, sitting on a stool.

“I know. But Steve really needs me. Smoothie?”

“Um, I need you. And hell yeah I want a smoothie.”

She sighed. “I know, I know. But you can call me or face time me or whatever you kids use these days.” I threw a banana at her, but it stopped mid-air. I pouted. Stupid powers.  Suddenly the banana came flying back at me, and I grabbed a knife and sliced it in half in the blink of an eye. She laughed and handed me a smoothie.

“You’re like that game. The one that slices the fruit.”

“Really? You know about Fruit Ninja and not FaceTime?”

“Careful, I’ll spill your drink on you.” I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah, well I’ll cut it in half too.” She laughed and walked towards her room.

“Don’t you have a date tonight anyway? Do that instead of feeling sorry for yourself that my amazing presence won’t be with you on your birthday.”

I scoffed. “Yeah right. And it’s not really a date. I’m meeting him there for Pete’s sake. Any real date, he would pick me up at seven or whatever.”

Wanda gave an affirmative sound from her room, and I took that to mean that she didn’t believe me. Whatever. I knew it wasn’t a date, and that was enough for me. As long as I didn’t get my hopes up, right? But I could still dress cute. I walked into my bathroom to take a shower, before realizing that I didn’t even know what I was going to. I pulled out my phone and texted Damon.

_Text message to: Damon ;))))_

_Hey, what even is this fundraiser that I’m meeting you at? Like what’s the point?_

I turned on the water for my shower and looked at myself in the rapidly-fogging mirror. My green and blue eyes stared back, piercing through me. My staring was rudely interrupted by the sound of a text.

_Text message from: Damon ;))))_

_You’ll see when you get there ;)_

I rolled my eyes. Really?? He couldn’t even tell me what I was supposed to wear? I sighed and got in the shower. As I washed my hair, I couldn’t help but think about all the ways this could go wrong. what if Damon was reporting me to the council? Or even worse, what if he was planning on bringing someone else and only invited me to be nice? Or what if he brought someone for me? Huffing quietly, I tried to push my insecurities to the back of my head, but there was still that little nagging voice, telling me I wasn’t good enough. That he would never like a killer like me.

“Stop.” I growled to myself, and I pressed harder on my leg that I was shaving so that it left a small cut. I watched the blood trickle down my leg, and then stop as the wound closed. After my shower was finished, I looked at myself in the mirror again.

“You are perfect, just the way you are.” I told myself. Why was I worried about what some guy thought about me? Even if he was gorgeous…

“Ads, are you ready to go? I’m coming with you to get myself a drink.”

I took a deep breath.

“Yeah, almost ready. Let me get dressed real quick.”

I ran to my room, and pulled on some nice black dress pants, and a black lacey top. I grabbed my heels and my purse and hurried out. I saw Wanda sitting on the couch, playing with her rings, and it reminded me that I forgot jewelry.

“Ah, shit.” I tossed my purse down, and started to dash back to my room, when Wanda’s voice stopped me.

“Use your powers to get them. Focus on the specific piece of jewelry that you want, and make it come to you.”

I just looked at her.

“I feel like that would take a longer time than just- “

“Well then we’ll be fashionably late,” she said with a raised eyebrow. “Focus.”

I rolled my eyes, and then closed them. I focused on the gold hoop earrings I wanted, along with the necklace that had an arrow on it. Nat had the same one, and I wore it as often as I could. Lastly, I focused on making my favorite rings float over. When I opened my eyes, all the items were floating right in front of my face.

“Good job, Ada.” Wanda smiled at me. I smiled back, and put them all on.

“Alright, now let’s get the fuck outta here. We’re late.”

“Fashionably late,” Wanda muttered. I laughed, and we drove down to the Grill.

When we got there, I stepped out of the car with a ton of fake confidence. I could feel the stares of everyone as I walked into the Grill, and I couldn’t decide if they were good or bad.

“There’s my beautiful Ada,” a familiar voice said from behind me. I turned to see my favorite pair of blue eyes staring right at me. His hands fell to my waist, and my hands went right to his shoulders. If we were different people, we probably would’ve kissed, but instead we were interrupted by another slightly snotty voice.

“Damon! Perfect! The event is about to start.” I turned to see the Mayor’s wife smiling at Damon. MY Damon. Wait what? When did he become mine? I gave the woman a smile, and then turned to Damon.

“What event?” I asked, my eyebrow raised.

He smirked his little I-am-up-to-no-good smirk, and wiggled his eyebrows.

“You’ll have to wait and see.” Then he brought his face close to mine, so that our foreheads were almost touching.

“You look ravishing by the way,” he whispered so only I could hear. Then he pulled back, still smirking, and walked up to the stage. I knew my cheeks were on fire, so when the Mayor’s wife gave me a look, I just nodded at her politely and walked over to stand next to Stefan. I touched the inside of his arm lightly and he smiled at me, but it looked strained. I frowned.

“What’s wrong Stef?”

He grimaced slightly. I nudged him softly.

"Come on, tell me. Who else would you spill your secrets to?” He smiled hesitantly.

“We found out that Elena was adopted.”

I choked on my water, and Stefan had to thump me on the back. I wiped off the water from my pants and looked up at him.

“What?”

He nodded. “Yeah apparently her real parents were like teens or something, and they just left her in the care of Miranda and Grayson Gilbert. They were doctors, so they changed the birth certificates and everything.”

“Huh,” I said, while looking at Damon from across the room. It looked like they were doing some sort of bachelor raffle, and Damon was one of them. When our eyes met, I gave him a look that said that we were gonna talk about this later, and he smirked. How dare he invite me to something that he knew would make me jealous?! I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle though. That was such a Damon thing to do.

“So do we know what happened to her real parents?”

Stefan looked down.

“Stefan, what happened to them?” I crossed my arms. Something was wrong here.

“We don’t know for sure, but- “

“Alaric Saltzman, that’s a mouthful!” the Mayor’s wife’s voice rang through the diner. “And what do you do Mr. Saltzman?”

“I’m a history teacher at Mystic High.”

“Oh, how wonderful. Can you tell us a fun fact about Mystic Falls?”

He paused and looked at Damon, who held a hand up to his ear patronizingly. I raised an eyebrow and glanced at Stefan, whose jaw was clenched. What the hell was going on? Who the fuck was this guy? ‘Alaric’ still hadn’t answered, so Carol (Stefan informed me that was her name) swooped in and saved him.

“He’s probably saving up all his facts for his date!”

Everyone laughed, and I could see Stefan relax a little. I looped my arm through his to try and calm him down, but as soon as I had started the process, Elena popped up.

“And this is Damon Salvatore!”

“Did you find out anything else about my mom?” Elena asked Stefan quietly enough that a normal human wouldn’t be able to hear her. For her sake, I pretended not to hear, and kept looking forward. Damon was now speaking directly to Alaric, and he was saying that once, he and Alaric’s ex-wife had drunk together and how delicious she as.

“Isobel, was it?” he said, almost glaring at the other man, who seemed to be trying to keep his cool. Meanwhile, I felt panic and anger on my side, and turned. Stefan seemed at a loss for words and was looking at Elena for her reaction, and Elena was outright crying. There were silent tears streaming down her face, and I flinched back a little at the absolute anger she was giving off. I put a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her. I may not like her, but everyone needed someone from time to time. Even if that person previously may or may not have thrown out death threats to them.

“Elena? Are you okay? What happened?” I pushed some calming energy into her, but she shoved me off.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she whispered before storming off. I looked to Stefan for help, but he just shook his head.

“It’s not my place to say.” I rolled my eyes.

“Oh, like it wasn’t your place to tell me that she was adopted not even 20 minutes ago?” I huffed and took my arm out of his.

“I’ll figure it out my damn self.” I walked towards the bar, concentrating all my energy on Damon and his aura.

_Meet me at the back of the Grill, NOW._

I saw Damon shake his head rapidly as if to clear the words from his head, and then turn towards me. I looked at him and nodded, then walked towards the back door. I stood out there for maybe a minute, when a familiar energy settled over me. He walked over to where I was standing and crossed his arms.

“What’s up? You seemed pretty urgent in your creepy head message.” I couldn’t help but laugh when he called it that. But I sobered up when I remembered why I brought him out here.

“Something is wrong. Elena is mad.”

He scoffed, “and why do you care? Didn’t she accuse you of killing an old lady?” I smiled slightly.

“Yeah, she did. But it matters because I think she’s mad at you.”

He frowned and took my arm.

“Why?”

I shrugged and we started walking towards the front.

“Why is Elena ever mad?”

“Because she doesn’t get her way?” he supplied innocently. I punched him in the shoulder lightly.

“Shut up. She seemed really angry and hurt. Whatever happened must’ve been pretty serious.”

He nodded, and we walked in silence for a while. I was about to say that we should go back in and get a drink before we left, when I saw something that made my heart stop. A man stood in front of Elena and Stefan, talking to them. Then he picked up his phone, said a few words, and stepped back into the street. Elena screamed as the truck flew by, and Stefan pulled her into his arms. They stood there for a while, just holding each other. I glanced at Damon, who seemed just as confused and slightly worried.

“Should we go- “

“Yeah, let’s go.”

We walked up to them, concern evident in our faces. Stefan heard our approach and started rapidly shaking his head. We stopped about two feet away from them, hesitant to keep walking. Stefan was trying to make hand motions to tell us to go away, but I just kind of looked like sad hand-puppeting. I looked at Damon to see if he understood, but he seemed just as confused as I was. Then Elena looked up.

“It’s all his fault Stefan. He was the one who killed her.” Stefan opened his mouth to protest, but Elena stormed past him and into us. I winced and stepped back at the amount of anger that was radiating off of her persona. It was painful for me to be so close to such raw emotion. I tried to pull Damon away, but Elena was holding his arm.

“It was your fault,” she hissed, “you were the one who killed her.”

Damon looked confused.

“Elena what are you talking about?” he glanced at me, but I was looking at Elena with wide eyes. I understood. She thought Damon was the one to kill her mother. Her real mother.

“Damon,” I said, placing a hand on his arm.

“That woman you drained? The one that you said was delicious? That was my mother.” Then she reared her arm back and slapped him across the face. To my surprise, Damon didn’t retaliate. He just sort of stood there.

“Did you enjoy it? Did you enjoy rubbing Alaric’s dead wife in his face, and my dead mother in mine?”

“Elena I- “ he started to say something, but Elena pushed past him. He turned to me with worried look in his eyes.

“Ada I swear I didn’t know. I would never-“

“It’s ok. I know you didn’t mean to.” I sighed and let my gaze follow Stefan as he went after Elena.

“But Stefan and Elena don’t. I think that it’s best for you to just go home for the night. I’ll swing by in the morning to see how you’re doing.” I turned back to look at him, but he was staring off into the distance. I put a finger under his chin and turned his face towards me so I could look him in the eye.

“Damon I know that you didn’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings,” I paused, “well, maybe Alaric’s. whatever. I’m not asking you to apologize or anything because I don’t believe it was your fault. She came to you, asking if she could be turned, not the other way around.” I stopped because the look in his eyes was too much to bear. In that moment, he held so much empathy and vulnerability and caring, that it made me blush a little bit. Then I patted him on the cheek.

“I have to go take Wanda home, but text me when you get home ok? I know you’re a vampire and everything, but it’ll ease my mind.”

I stepped back smiling, and then walked back inside the small restaurant. I looked for Stefan and Elena so I could yell at them, or at least talk very loudly, but they were nowhere to be found. I looked around to see Wanda paying her tab and walked towards her. As I got closer, I saw Alaric stalking out the door. And boy did he look pissed. I briefly wondered if he was going to be a problem, but then I remembered that he was a human and Damon was a supernatural killing machine, and calmed down slightly. I put a hand on Wanda’s shoulder and motioned towards the door. She stood up, and we walked arm in arm to the car. She didn’t say anything, which I was grateful for. I had too much on my mind to be able to form a real, coherent thought.

When we got home, I said a brief goodnight and a promise that I would tell her everything tomorrow to Wanda, and headed to bed. I changed into a giant t-shirt and braided my hair. I lay down in my bed, staring at my phone. Damon still hadn’t texted, and he definitely should’ve been home by now. I forced myself to not worry, but I still fell asleep to dreams of Damon missing or otherwise… disposed. Needless to say, I was in for a restless night.

Around midnight, Damon finally texted me.

_Text message from: Damon ;))))_

_I’m back home and safe. Although when you come by in the morning we have some things to talk about._

That text worried me even more. What the fuck did that even mean? What did we have to talk about? With that running around in my head, I put on a random movie on Netflix and tried my best to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry again that I took so long to update. I have so much homework and I couldn't really find a good place to end the chapter so it kinda just kept going. But I tried. Make it long to make up for the long time in between. Also thank you to everyone who left reviews; they really help me keep writing instead of just ignoring my hw and watching Netflix ;) seriously though, y'all r the best.

**Author's Note:**

> ahhhhhhh I finally did it!!! I finally wrote my own story!! I really hope y'all like it even though it's pretty short and I hope that y'all leave a review down below! I liter read so many fanfics and now I finally made my own. please let me know if I should continue this story or if I should just go back to reading fanfics instead of writing them. thanks :))


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